How to Cancel Out the Bad Effects of Sitting All Day
Working from home on my computer is probably the reason I’m sitting behind my desk far more than I probably should, that being said I do get up every hour or so to walk around the apartment and I even try to force myself to go out once a day to walk around the block for 15 minutes or so. How about you?
Well here’s a story that just appeared in TIME magazine that I recommend you read about a new study on this very subject that was published recently:
Finally, some good news for those of us who sit for a living
Sitting is basically the new smoking.
An ever-growing body of research is showing that being sedentary and sitting for long periods of time are linked to poor health consequences, including a laundry list of risks for conditions ranging from obesity to heart disease. Even exercising doesn’t make up for the negative health effects of being stuck in your seat.
But before you beg your boss for a standing desk, a new study suggests that moving a little throughout the day—also known as fidgeting—can actually counteract the problems that come with sitting for extended periods of time.
The new study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that women who sat for long periods of time have a lower mortality rate if they considered themselves moderately to very fidgety, compared to women who said they only fidgeted occasionally. Women who sat for long periods of time without fidgeting had an increased risk of death that wasn’t seen among other groups. Perhaps most surprisingly of all, the researchers didn’t find a difference in mortality risk between women who sat more versus those who were more active—as long as the sitters were fidgety.
The data came from surveys of 14,000 women from ages 35 to 69 living in the U.K., and the women were followed for an average of 12 years. “The current study…provides important information that though longer time spent sitting may have negative consequences, simple behaviors may have the potential to offset this,” the study authors write in the report…
