Apparently sitting is the new smoking, we are less active now than we were and we spend more time indoors than ever, neither of which are helping our quest for happiness. Whether we are sitting at a desk, sitting in a car or sitting in front of TV or computer at night, our lives involve much more sitting than they used to and jobs are less manual now too. There are many more office based jobs where before the majority of us would work outside on the land. Even house work was more physical then than it is now, with the increase in technology and convenience devices. Accessories have been designed to make our lives easier but at the same time they reduce the amount of effort and activity required.
We are beginning to realise the health implications of too much sitting. Employers are now looking at alternatives; stand up desks and walking meetings are becoming increasingly popular. Even if offset with regular gym activity research suggests that a life of sitting all day is going to catch up with us. A study by the Mayo Clinic in 2012 said premature death is 50% more likely for those who sit for 8 hours plus a day. Statistics estimate that we now spend 70% of our days sitting down and the irony is that the less we do, the less we want to do. We often find we’re too tired to go for a walk when we come home from a day sat in the office so we sit on the sofa and watch TV for the night. However the very act of going for a walk would give us the energy we are lacking. We’ll sometimes look for excuses; I’ve no time, it’s cold but if you have time to watch TV or have a warm jacket neither of those excuses are valid.
As several recent studies have discovered, sitting for too long can be as dangerous to health as smoking. It more than doubles our risk of diabetes and is linked with an increase in heart disease. In fact, inactivity is the fourth biggest killer of adults, according to the WHO. But the most alarming thing is that the results are the same however much exercise people do when they’re not sitting down. ‘Most people think that if they work out every day that’s all they need to do,’ says researcher Dr Emma Wilmot, whose team at the University of Leicester analysed 18 studies incorporating a total of 800,000 people. ‘But those with jobs that require sitting all day may still be at risk’. The study highlights that sitting for too long more than doubles our risk of diabetes. An average British adult spends up to 70 per cent of their day sitting down with inactivity the fourth biggest killer of adults in Britain. There’s no doubt about it, if we want to prolong our lives we need to be more active. The British journal of sports medicine tells us that a study in Australia in 2008 found that every hour of (seated) TV watching we do cuts about 22 minutes from our life span!
Tips for sitting less (especially at work)
Walking meetings or stand up meetings (more concise and better use of time)
Taking regular breaks, get up and walk around
Don’t keep water at your desk, get up to get it, often
Go outside for a walk at lunchtime
Stand when on the phone
Walk to see someone in the building rather than calling or sending an email
Use the stairs not the lift
Consider a stand up desk
Set reminders to flash on your screen to take regular breaks or get up and move about