[LINK] Sitting comfortably? How sitting is affecting our health

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Hi Jim,

Correlations are often elevated to cause and effect.

However, I think the point is that modern, less physical, work and 
lifestyle (driving to work, sitting in traffic) all contribute to a more 
sedentary lifestyle.

I can vouch that sitting for a whole day is not good for your health (I 
have done it a few times).

An aspect of modern life that has been overlooked is Vitamin D deficiency. 
It is not enough to go to the air conditioned gym from your air conditioned 
office by your air conditioned car, bus or train. We also need to get out 
into the sun a bit more.

Also, the advice is sometimes dodgy - I recall on the really hot days, 
instead of giving proper health advice - ie drink lots of water to avoid 
dehydration, suggestions such as go to an air conditioned building were made.

In the recent press coverage of Korean Gamers, there is lots of talk about 
a few deaths due to lack of food - it is more likely to be dehydration 
excacerbated by drinking Coke, Pepsi or V on the game!

Marghanita

Jim Birch wrote:
> Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> 
>> A growing body of evidence is pointing to the health risks associated
>> with sedentary behaviours, and in particular risks associated with
>> prolonged periods of sitting, independent of other physical activities.
>>
> 
> While the benefits of exercise are well-established it is possible that the
> case against sitting may be oversimplified and the biology may be more
> causally complex.  The evidence against sitting is largely based on
> observation rather than intervention studies.  However, people who tend to
> have lower physical health and lower metabolic rates will tend to end up in
> sitting jobs and will also tend to die earlier.
> 
> See, eg:
> 
>  "Are people dying early because they sit too long, or are they sitting so
> long because they'll die earlier?"
> http://drlutz.blogspot.de/2012/07/how-media-monkeys-get-you-panicked.html
> 
> Disclaimer: I try to avoid sitting for long periods.  I run a background
> application "Eyeleo" (in Windows) that tells me to take 8 second eye breaks
> every 15 minutes and 3 minute get-up-and-move breaks every hour.  It greys
> the screen during the long breaks and even has a no skip option is
> available for the recalcitrant.  I try to take the lift to the ground floor
> and walk up the five floors back to my desk job on four of the long breaks
> each day.  While the the sitting effect may be overstated, lots of good
> intervention studies indicate a strong link between improved fitness with
> improved health.  Some current research efforts are finding that short
> bursts of intense exercise improves physiological markers as much several
> times longer gentle exercise. So hit it!
> 
> Jim
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications (Sydney)
Website: http://ramin.com.au
Phone:(+612) 0414-869202