If you are sitting while reading this, you may want to stand before you are done. The American College of Sports Medicine reported that there is a significant relationship between sitting time and mortality from all causes. The study, following over 17,000 participants over 12 years revealed that there is a progressively higher risk of mortality wedded to higher rates of sitting time. For decades, doctors have been encouraging their patients to engage in physical activity as a means of decreasing mortality rates. This study, however, takes the issue a step further by revealing the need to discourage sitting for extended periods of time. If you are given work breaks, use them. No one says you need to use them for smoking, gossip, coffee drinking, or doughnut eating. Use them as an opportunity to stand up – for your life.
Katzmarzyk PT, Church TS, Craig CL, Bouchard C. Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 May;41(5):998-1005. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181930355. PubMed PMID: 19346988. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19346988