Studies show that sitting kills. Inertia may be especially hard on the heart. Every hour spent watching television was associated with an 18% increase in heart disease deaths and an 11% increase in deaths overall among 8,800 Australians who were followed for six years. People who watched TV at least four hours a day were 80% more likely to die of heart disease than those who watched less than two hours a day. (Americans watch an average of five hours of TV a day.) A Canadian study of 17,000 adults also found a consistent link between chair time and deaths from heart disease. The more people sat, for any reason, the more likely they were to die of heart disease within 12 years -- even if they were slim and exercised regularly. Too much sitting isn't the same as too little exercise. The Canadian and Australian studies can't prove sitting kills. It's possible heavy TV watchers and other chair-bound types have other habits, i.e., snacking patterns, that explain the link. When people are lounging or sitting, muscles go silent. Studies in rats show this muscular shutdown is quickly followed by a dramatic drop in an enzyme that's a vacuum for fat in the bloodstream. Artery damaging fats get a new chance to build up during every period of prolonged sitting. And springing up to jog once a day is unlikely to undo the damage. So, sit less and move more. Our bodies just weren't designed to be this inactive. |
From: "Monday, February 1, 2010 | DCPCA Health News Alert."
"Frequent" random acts of microfitness may be healthier than we know. For your body's sake, #getupandmove it. Often.
We're helping you get the motivation you need to move more throughout the day wherever you are, from whomever you find most helpful - on Twitter, on Facebook.
If you tried the Facebook #getupandmove feature last week, try it again.
My cofounder Andrey spent some nice time cleaning up the code and working on the API so you can now leave friends Facebook notifications.
Accountability is an agreement with yourself and the folks you invite to #getupandmove.
Speaking of which, I'm off to our UserVoice community to see how we're doing holding up our end of the "make healthy microchoices" contract.
Tot ziens-
@jensmccabe
@shazow
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