Excessive sitting affects us in more ways than just the obvious weight gain. The list is long: heart problems, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, dangerous blood clots and some musculo-skeletal conditions.
David Dunstan, the head of the physical activity laboratory at Melbourne’s Baker IDI Health and Diabetes Institute compares the sitting epidemic today to the lack of awareness about the dangers of sun damage 20 years ago. Dunstan states;
“People who are high sitters have increased risk of premature death. Sitting is the new smoking.”
Everyone knows they should exercise however what they don’t realise is that, that 30 minutes of walking or the gym workout will not reduce the risks of sitting down for too long.
On average we sit 16 hours per day when you include the ride to and from work, meals and watching TV or Youtube at night.
“These are two distinct public health hazards, too much sitting and too little exercise”, according to Dunstan. (2)