Are you sitting down? Shame, because chairs can be deadly. Ok, it’s not the chair’s fault; it’s our sitting on them.
Most of our waking hours – 13 hours a day – we spend sitting down; at the office, in front of the television, eating, or on a date.
18 different studies conducted in the past 16 years which surveyed over 800 thousand people, warn against the rest that we so love. An article published in Scientific American claims that according to research, sitting half the day doubles a person’s risk for diabetes, and cardio-vascular issues. One of the studies, which included 8,800 participants, showed that those who watched more than 4 hours of TV a day were at 56% more risk of death (from any cause) than those that only watched TV up to two hours a day.
What’s wrong with sitting? The human body isn’t meant to be lazy. Lack of movement slows down the metabolism, reduces the amount of food that is converted to energy, which in turn increases the accumulation of fat. In addition, it causes obesity, and a long list of disease: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis and more. Even if you’re thin, you shouldn’t be sitting. Sitting after a meal, for example, causes a sharp increase in blood sugar.
In general we tend to associate these health problems with obesity, and not merely sitting. However, sitting isn’t any less destructive, yet it’s much easier to change our sitting habits. You can have walking meetings, read emails while standing, walk to a colleague’s office instead of sending an email, talk on the phone while walking and more.
Pat yourself on the back if you read this post standing up. If not, then what are you waiting for? Stand up!