Are you sitting in your cubicle? Stand up and
move around! Because walking is a healthier option. Sitting, like smoking, has
become the bane of our generation. Any office shares some common features:
Incessant tapping noise of the keyboard, phones ringing, and the passive act of
sitting in chairs. All these are the makings of a sedentary lifestyle.
From the seat of your vehicle to
the office chair and then the couch at home, your daily displacement, medical
experts say is too insufficient to keep you healthy . They say that if you
spend most of the day sitting then you are putting yourself at higher risk of
diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
A study was recently conducted by
M V Hospital for Diabetes to assess the effects of prolonged sitting among bank
employees and school teachers. The results have confirmed the grim news: those
with a family history of diabetes sitting for more than three hours a day were
at a threefold risk of developing diabetes than those doing moderate physical
activity .
The study had a sample size of
514 subjects (244 bank employees and 270 school teachers); it analysed factors
such as body mass index, waist circumference, duration of physical activity ,
positive family history of diabetes and random blood glucose levels. "The
main objective of the study was to define the word sedentary and analyse its
role in increasing the risk of diabetes. Secondly , we also analysed the role
of family history in it," said chief diabetologist Dr Vijay Viswanathan,
who was part of the study .
Doctors concluded that those
involved in some physical activity and sat less than three hours had less blood
sugar, pressure and cholesterol levels. "Those who sat for less than three
hours and had a family history of diabetes were at 16% risk, those in the
second group were at 27% risk," said the doctor.
Bank employees are more prone to
diabetes than teachers who at least stand or pace around classrooms, revealed
the study . "This study applies to any profession similar to a job at the
bank that requires being seated for a long period. The energy expenditure is
very negligible in these people and all the carbohydrates are converted to fat
and get deposited all over," said Dr Viswanathan. He added that such fat
build-up, apart from causing insulin resistance, also causes polycystic ovaries
in women and fatty liver diseases in men. We can't change our family history
but we can find solutions to this sitting syndrome. "Employees should take
steps like walking around the office and taking mobility breaks every few
hours, while offices should take keen interest on their employees'
health," said Dr Viswanathan.
If you cannot spare time for an
hour in the gym or go for a run or a walk, then making certain changes in your
work place or home could do the trick to keep lifestyle diseases at bay . Pace
around the office; desire for a better health gives you the licence to fidget.
Stand while talking on the phone, walk up to your colleague instead of emailing
or phoning and walk those flights of stairs instead of taking the lift. At
home, spare at least 15 minutes a day to perform yoga to stretch all the
muscles in the body .
The study was published in the
Journal of Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics.
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