Some are saying sitting is the new smoking.
A little dramatic?
Yes.
Kind of accurate?
Kind of yes.
Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews.
Is anyone else slightly terrified of losing dependence when you get old?
It's sort of like an ongoing existential crisis for me that's destroying my youthful years.
Of course, declining health in old age is a good incentive to stay healthy, physically
and emotionally.
Which means eating right and getting moderate exercise in every week.....right?
WRONG.
THAT'S STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
....At least according to a new study published in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health.
The researchers at Harvard, Northwestern, and the CDC found that while getting your
150 minutes a week of exercise IS important for maintaining good health, it miiiiight
not provide the same kind of protection as, say...getting off your butt and not sitting
so much.
The scientists found that sedentary hours were a better predictor than moderate exercise
when it comes to things like being able to get around the house, being able to feed yourself,
staying out of nursing homes and general independence when you're old.
For every hour of sitting, there was a 46% decrease in the ability to perform everyday
tasks in those over 60.
The researchers also found that those most likely to be sitting too much were older,
male, more educated but less wealthy, smokers, and those who have a chronic illness.
Their research attributes 5.3 million deaths per year (worldwide)....to sitting.
Other studies have found that for every hour of TV watched when you're older than 25, 22
minutes are shaved off the lifespan.
YIKES!
It's like a 21st century nightmare straight out of Wall-E. Sitting is a obviously a huge
problem and it's not something we talk (or think) about so much.
At least not as much as diet and exercise.
It seems that as we shift away from manual labor types of jobs to computer-based desk
jobs, sitting is becoming harder and harder to avoid.
BUT!
There is hope yet!
The researchers say that gradually moving toward standing more or getting more steps
into your day can have a dramatic effect.
As little as an extra half hour per day of not sitting can improve your long term health.
I've started to notice standing desks or treadmill desks getting more popular.
It seems like we're just going to need to adapt to stay healthy with this emerging 21st
century lifestyle.
The researchers are now looking into the question of "just how much sitting is *too much*?"
So folks, how much do YOU sit everyday?
Tell us the number of hours down below or on our Facebook page, we'll see if we can
get a DNews average.
Thanks for joining me!
I'll cya next time.