News: Sitting may be bad for your health

Not great news for us office workers: Sitting for long periods of time can have negative effects on your health, scientists say. Canadian researchers who studied the effects of sitting on the body found that after seven hours of uninterrupted sitting raised their subjects’ blood pressure and decreased their good cholesterol. Seems weird, as we often think of sitting as a relaxed activity. But one researcher told the CBC that our bodies’ muscles actually respond to the strains of sitting and that evidence suggests that long periods of sitting still can affect everything from your metabolism to brain function and increased risk for osteoporosis.

If you’re reading this sitting at a desk right now, you’re probably a bit concerned. But researchers suggest that simply getting up and moving can lessen the damage sitting may cause. Or, you could try to convince your boss to invest in these treadmill desks. Not a bad idea, when you think about it. Do you think workstations might evolve to include ways to work standing up, or will we continue to be sedentary in our daily lives?

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