A study from the American Cancer Society indicates that men and women who sit for more than six hours a day are 40 percent more likely to die earlier than people who sit less than three hours per day. This number still holds true for those who exercise. Even if you get your recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day and also sit for six hours, your mortality rate is still higher than those who sit less. Sitting for extended periods of time does significant damage to health that exercise cannot undo. The mortality rates nearly double for those who sit and do not exercise. 

 

 

Many people sit for much longer than six hours a day. Think about how much time you sit after factoring in commute times, meal times and relaxing in front of the television. Dr. Neville Owen of Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia found that the average American sits for 15.5 hours daily, a number that does not include sleep. That means that even if you achieve the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity a day, that is still just three percent of your day spent being active. Research has demonstrated that the key to improved health is being active throughout the day. Dr. Owens found that breaking up your sitting time by moving for a minute or two at a time leads to smaller waistlines, lower levels of inflammation and less insulin resistance-the very thing that Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., is taking a look at with staff at 2 Peachtree. 

Dr. Fitzgerald is leading the way to healthier Public Health employees by implementing a worksite wellness program that teaches participants how their insulin levels might be early indicators of future health problems like obesity and diabetes.

In a lunch and learn on February 8, Dr. Fitzgerald told an eager 2 Peachtree group ways to control their insulin levels. Along with choosing healthy foods and avoiding processed, packaged foods, she emphasized the importance of being active throughout the day.  Dr. Fitzgerald encourages employees to take a few minutes three to four times a day to be physically active and do something good for your health.  

If the program is successful at lowering the insulin levels of Public Health employees at 2 Peachtree, she hopes to further build the program.  

If for some reason the threats of early death, heart disease, hypertension or diabetes are not enough to get you up and moving throughout your workday, new research from Tel Aviv University suggests that sitting will actually make your rear-end bigger. Researchers believe that the pressure placed on the hips and buttocks from sitting down too long can generate up to 50 percent more fat in those areas. Study participants who ate well and exercised will ended up with larger rear ends and waistlines if they sat all day.  

So get up throughout the day, stand while you talk on the phone, and get moving toward a healthier work day.