Forget smoking or fried food: Sitting might be the biggest threat to your health

Do you love what you do so much that you lose track of time? Are you a workaholic? Do you find yourself skipping lunch, water breaks, or even bathroom breaks? If you have a desk job and you answered “yes” to any of these, keep reading.

The Risks

Sitting for long periods of time has been recently linked with a number of health risks - including death. Other serious health issues have been reported, and some of the most concerning ones include:

• high blood pressure

• diabetes

• high cholesterol

• cardiovascular disease

• anxiety

• depression

• deep vein thrombosis

• cancer

• cognitive decline

• disc compression

It’s wonderful to love what we do, but I found this data to be eye-opening (and very scary). In addition to serious health risks, some other concerning effects of prolonged sitting include:

• atrophy of leg and gluteal muscles

• neck and back pain

• obesity

• varicose veins
  
  

How to fix it

Studies indicate that one hour of moderate physical activity per day can counter the effects of sitting. So, the best solution is making time for medium-intensity exercise, daily. Additionally, you can start changing your work habits by implementing some of these changes:

• Walk away from your desk at regular intervals

• Stand when you talk on the phone

• Use a standing desk as much as possible

• Skip the elevator and take the stairs

• Don’t eat lunch at your desk

• Ditch the conference room and try having “walking” meetings, instead

• Take a 20-minute walking break in the middle of the day

• Move your trash can away from your desk so you are forced to get up

It’s hard for many of us to make these changes. But serious risk to our health is a wake up call to change how we work and live - in the office and at home. I’ve recently started watching TV while stepping on and off a step stool or dancing in place (much to my partner’s amusement). We’ve also started skipping the kitchen table (or couch!) and are eating dinner standing and talking at the kitchen island. They say necessity sparks innovation…