With the average office worker spending 5 hours and 41 minutes a day sitting at a desk, it's a bit of an exaggeration to describe the problem with a neat new word, but it's certainly intriguing: "Sitting is the new way to smoke".
reduce obesity risk
Research shows that our traditional exercise strategies -- sitting and working all day, then hitting the gym or running -- "hardly make more sense than jogging and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day," as James Vlashos wrote in The New York Times So big. The key to lowering your obesity risk is consistent, moderate exercise throughout the day.
Scientists are still investigating why this is the case. A reduction in the number of calories burned while sitting (a 2013 study found an average of more than 50 calories per hour while standing) is clearly involved, but there may also be metabolic changes, such as a weakened response of body cells to insulin, or Muscles that sit for long periods of time release lower levels of lipoprotein lipase.
Of course, this all speaks to the dangers of sitting too long, not quite the same as the benefits of standing. But Levin believes the two are closely related.
Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
Scientific evidence that sitting is bad for the cardiovascular system dates back to the 1950s, when British researchers compared heart disease rates among London bus drivers (sitting) and bus conductors (standing) and found that the former group experienced far more heart attack and other problems in the latter.
Reduced Risk of Cancer
A handful of studies have suggested that extended periods of sitting can be linked with a higher risk of many forms of cancer. Breast and colon cancer appear to be most influenced by physical activity (or lack thereof): a 2011 study found that prolonged sitting could be responsible for as much as 49,000 cases of breast cancer and 43,000 cases of colon cancer annually in the U.S. But the same research found that significant amounts of lung cancer (37,200 cases), prostate cancer (30,600 cases), endometrial cancer (12,000 cases) and ovarian cancer (1,800 cases) could also be related to excessive sitting.
The underlying mechanism by which sitting increases cancer risk is still unclear, but scientists have found a number of biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein, that are present in higher levels in people who sit for long periods of time. These may be tied to the development of cancer.
If you're going to start doing this, most experts recommend dividing your time between standing and sitting, as standing all day can cause problems with your back, knees, or feet. The easiest way to do this is to use a desk that can be raised upwards or a high chair that can be pulled up to the desk when you need to sit down. It's also important to relax, they say, and start out by only standing for a few hours a day to allow your body to adjust to the stress, then change your position, pace, or even dance to move a little while you work.
