Recent reports in mainstream media announcing that prolonged sitting can kill you has gotten a lot of traction here at the Tribune/Weekend Advisor office –– literally.
As the editorial department, we have what we feel is the enviable position of being the only department on the second floor of our building.
Being removed from the rest of staff helps us foster teamwork and keeps our focus when we are concentrating on writing, which in turn helps us meet our ever-present deadlines.
In the past week, however, our department has been getting disturbed by hourly walk-bys up and down the stairs from other department staff as they move their way to better health.
What is moving them?
Well, according to the latest study in which Canadian researchers compiled information from 41 international studies, sitting too long throughout the day can apparently kill you.
They found the amount of time a person sits during the day is directly associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death, even if you get regular daily exercise.
According to the study, people who sit all day have a 15 to 20 per cent higher risk of death from any cause; a 15 to 20 per cent higher risk of heart disease, death from heart disease, cancer, death from cancer; and as much as a 90 per cent increased risk of developing diabetes –– and that was after adjusting for the effects of regular exercise.
For those of us who spend hours working at our desks in front of a computer, the study suggests we should aim to decrease the amount of time we are sedentary by two to three hours over the course of a 12-hour day.
The researchers suggest people set an alarm to remind themselves to stand up at work and move around for one to three minutes every half hour or consider a standing work station.
We suspect we’ll be hearing the sounds of footsteps up and down the stairs for some time to come.
Now you’ll have to excuse us. Our timer’s just gone off.
- Williams Lake Tribune/
Weekend Advisor