Are You A Sitting Duck?


Movie mavens brag about watching "Fanny and Alexander" at over five hours long, and "West of the Tracks," which clocks in at nine-plus hours. But they're bested by intrepid fans who go to see "La Flor," an 807-minute film with 40 minutes of credits.

Those glued-to-your-seat sessions pale in comparison to the sit-downs that U.S. adolescents and adults log day after day. According to a recent study published in JAMA, researchers found that over a decade, daily sitting time has increased among kids 12-19 and adults 20-64, from seven hours a day to just over eight for adolescents and from 5.5 hours daily to almost 6.5 for adults.

The risks are well-documented: Being sedentary is associated with thinning of the medial temporal lobe, a part of the brain important for the formation of new memories - and even a lot of physical activity doesn't reduce such a harmful effect. In addition, prolonged sitting puts you in the hot seat for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breast and colon cancer, osteoporosis and depression.

Your solution: Moving more takes a commitment - and a buddy! At work, set a stand-up reminder for every 30-60 minutes and enlist officemates to join in. Walk around the floor, have walking meetings, do 30 jumps, take a couple of flights of stairs. Add after dinner walks (at the mall or outdoors) to your family routine, and sign kids up for sports activities - and practice with them. Look for hidden opportunities to move, like parking away from your destination and saying no to elevators. Become your own "Moving More" movement.

© 2019 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Read more http://cdn.kingfeatures.com/rss/feed/editorial/index.php?content=YouDocTips_20190523