How much of the day do you spend sitting
? You probably sit when eating, for example. Sitting helps us to relax and savor our food, to eat more slowly and enjoy the experience. Those are good reasons for sitting. And you obviously sit most of the time when you travel – in cars and flights (and often in airport waiting rooms). And when watching movies or TV. And when using the computer, right?
But given what science has discovered about the health risks of sitting, it is time for us to reexamine how and when we sit. Research has shown that sitting is as damaging to your health as smoking is. And even intensive exercise, after a day of sitting, does not undo the damage. So our entire sitting-at-a-desk-working-on-the-computer culture has been detrimental to our collective and individual health and we didn’t know it. Until recently. Now we know that sitting increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and more.
So what should we do with this inconvenient and unsettling information? We could take a Kaizen approach and gradually begin to stand more and sit less. We could get up briefly every 30 minutes or so and get a glass of water, or look for something nice we can do for someone. That’s a gentle way to begin reducing our time sitting down.
At a certain point, when standing made good intuitive sense to me, I decided to experiment with a standing-desk. I had to rig up my own system, but now I can work at the computer while standing up and I much prefer it. Of course I sit down from time to time, some days more than others, but it’s more the exception than the rule. What about you? How can you shift the balance between sitting and standing?
As adults, we have a lot of good reasons to make these changes. But think about our kids, most of whom are expected to sit throughout much of their school day. Not only are children suffering from obesity and many other health concerns, but they often have an abundance of energy that can be hard to contain. Children are clearly not designed for a life of sitting. Standing provides more opportunities for stretching and changing position, which is better-suited to a child’s nature. Researchers from Texas A&M University conducted a study involving three schools and 374 children. Students were given standing desks, with accompanying stools so they could choose whether to stand or sit. They found that standing students concentrated better and participated more actively in school. They also burned up to 25% more calories, with obese children burning up to 35%, just by standing.
So we can minimize our own sitting, whenever we have the chance. But we can also look for ways to help our schools take a leadership role with this issue. Perhaps we can help to educate others, or raise funds, or advocate for the purchase of standing desks, which would help to nudge the tide of our sedentary society. I’m going to sit down for a few minutes and think about that!
Tags: Health Kaizen Taking Action
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Hi Linda – I got one of those fitness monitors just out of curiosity. On a morning “off” at home, when I have tons of computer work to do. it still registers over 5000 steps. The trick is to vary activities; I will sit for a while, then get up and hang up a load of laundry, or chop veggies for soup, straighten the den, you know just normal daily chores.
As for work environments, not sure what they are talking about but nobody I know has a desk job. They are nurses and physical therapists, teachers, police officers, photographers, construction workers, housekeeping, and so on. I can’t even conceptualize a job that involves sitting at a desk.
As for school….that is just cruel, making kids sit in regimented rows and parrot regimented stuff. Don’t get me started.
Lucky for you I have to go to work, or I’d keep going…
Jill, thanks for your comment. You’re right that many jobs involve versatile tasks and a lot of coming and going. But there are many people who are tethered to their desks for much of the day. The nature of certain jobs requires steady focus at a computer and/or focus on paperwork. Accountants, webmasters, computer programmers, etc. can find themselves seated most of the day unless they make a conscious effort to get up and move about from time to time. My job, in fact, requires a great deal of computer time and I find that I am much less fatigued at the end of the day if I punctuate my standing time with sitting time, rather than the other way around.
What about zazen?? Sitting , sitting and growing stringer and clearer by the moment
Hi Brenda, thanks for your comment. Yes, meditation involves sitting, often extensive sitting, resulting in countless benefits that enhance all aspects of our lives. All the more reason to find ways of breaking up the spells of sitting in the rest of our day, or outside the boundaries of retreats and sesshins. Integrating walking meditation can be helpful, both mentally and physically. For those of us who meditate, the benefits can clearly outweigh the challenges. But there are other activities that really don’t require prolonged sitting. That’s where we can make some different and deliberate choices without sacrificing purpose.
I’m a literal sort of lad, so when I read, ” Research has shown that sitting is as damaging to your health as smoking is ” I read it literally: as though sitting is as damaging to our health as smoking is. I was once a smoker, for far too many years & I can attest to the horrendous damage to our bodies that smoking causes, But I find it difficult to accept that sitting is as damaging to our health.
Hi David, I appreciate your thoughts about this issue. Bravo to you for putting cigarettes behind you. The new information about sitting is a bit disorienting. I don’t think researchers fully understand why sitting is detrimental to our health, but they seem to be more and more convinced that it is. Here is a link from NBC news:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/heres-just-how-bad-sitting-around-you-n132471