Working at a Desk Can Kill You: the effects of poor work-life balance
Exercise is good for you. Staying active is good for you. Staying stationary for long periods of time is bad for you. OK, we get it. Get up and move. However, it might be a bit more complicated than that.
Epidemiologist Steven Blair, a professor of public health at the University of South Carolina, has spent 40 years investigating physical activity and health in adults. Even if you adhere to the federal health officials recommended 30 minutes of physical activity a day, you’re still spending 8 hours sleeping, 8-10 hours sitting at a desk, and another hour or so sitting at a kitchen table, watching TV, or reading in a chair. Basically, we’re sitting for most of our lives. This, Blair speculates, can lead to serious health risks, and possible death.
Blair headed a study at the University of South Carolina where he reported on adult men and their risk of dying from heart disease. Of those who reported 23 hours a week of stationary activity (which is the minimum amount for those who work at a desk all day), even those who regularly exercised had a 64% greater risk of heart disease than those who reported only 11 hours a week of stationary activity.
These new facts are just starting to get attention from and researched by scientists.
Blair’s studies are finding that people who sit more have less desirable levels of cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides and even waist size, which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and a number of health problems.
Basically, our bodies are simply shutting down.
Dr. Tony Yancey, a professor in the health services department and co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity at the University of California, Los Angeles, along with Dr. Blair, offers us the following tips to staying active throughout the work day.
- Take a 10-minute activity break at a scheduled time every day
- Park farther away from the places where you work, shop, play, study and worship
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Put printers a short walking distance away from your work or study space instead of right next to it
- Replace desk chairs with stability balls — or use a standing desk to get rid of the chair entirely — to burn more calories while working.
- Fidget, stand up and stretch at intervals during meetings
It may not sound like much, but an Australian study found that these types of mini-breaks, just one minute long throughout the day, can actually help lower blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol and waist size.
So what are you waiting for? Get up, and move!
