Sitting is Killing Us

There are more and more studies coming out demonstrating the dangers of sitting at a desk all day. Here’s one:

Over a lifetime, the unhealthful effects of sitting add up. Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, tracked the health of 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006. The men in the study who spent six hours or more per day of their leisure time sitting had an overall death rate that was about 20 percent higher than the men who sat for three hours or less. The death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher. Patel estimates that on average, people who sit too much shave a few years off of their lives. ~NY Times

I can certainly attest that more than half of the rehab I do as a kinesiologist is either the direct or indirect result of a lifetime of sitting.

Though my life and work doesn’t allow much time for sitting during the day, I have finally created an ergonomically correct stand-up workstation for myself:

Specs:
1) I propped the table up 24 inches so that it stands at 4’5″, allowing my elbows to sit comfortably on the table.

2) I have a 24″ box that raises my laptop up so that the centre of the screen is at my eye level, which is about 6’3″.

3) The box also allows me to put the second keyboard under my computer so that I can place the screen a comfortable distance from my eyes. I also poked holes in the box to keep the cords out of the way.

4) The entire set up only cost the purchase price for the table.

5) Yes, I’m quite tall.

What’s the Secret to Health?

Apparently one simple thing…

P.S. I’d add the caveat that this applies when we look at people as a group. What an individual needs is often very different. Most people are interested in increasing their personal health, not the group’s health statistics. That said, it’s pretty amazing what a little exercise can do!

 

Why We Get Fat

There was a great interview on CBC’S The Sunday Edition this morning with author Gary Taubes discussing his book Why We Get Fat. You can here the entire interview here (click on the “Hour Two” audio).

As is often the case, conventional wisdom is not particularly wise, especially when it come to nutrition. And despite the many voices out there dispelling the myth and the numerous examples to the contrary, most people are convinced that it doesn’t really matter what you eat as long as you do it in moderation – ultimately it’s the calories consumed that matter most.

Nope. Check out the interview.

Turn off the TV to help Kids Slim Down

Here’s an article in The Vancouver Sun about Stephen Kline’s new book, Globesity. In it he argues that we need to worry less about fast food and advertising to kids and more about turning off the TV in our home so that kids get outside and stay active.

As the parent of a 4 year old this rings true for me. I find that even if she only watches 30 minutes of TV a day, it seems to train her mind that ‘fun’ equals TV, rather than being active. It makes her a passive participant in fun, rather an active one. This is exacerbated by those of us in urban contexts where it’s more difficult for kids to just run around outside.

But this is also true for a lot of us adults as well. Fun and relaxation is increasingly becoming consuming entertainment rather than actively engaging in physical activity. In many cases, excessive TV viewing is much like an addiction to a stimulant. Let’s have the courage to delete that PVR’d show and go outside and move our bodies.

Coffee Linked to Conception Difficulties

Here’s an intriguing article from The Vancouver Sun on the possible side effects of caffeine on the passage of eggs through the Fallopian tubes. It looks like yet another reason to avoid caffeine…

Tendon Problems and Antibiotics Linked

Ongoing Tendon problems? Perhaps it’s not biomechanical?

In 2008 the US Food and Drug Administration made a link between flouroquinolone antimicrobial drugs and an increased risk of tendonitis and tendon rupture.

Flouroquinolone antibiotics include:

Cipro
Ciprofloxacin
Cipro XR
Proquin XR
Factive (gemifloxacin)
Levaquin (levofloxacin)
Avelox (moxifloxacin)
Noroxin (norfloxacin)
Floxin
Oflozacin

Read a summary article here.

Fish Oil and Breast Cancer

Here’s another study indicating the benefits of fish oil: women between the ages of 50 – 76, reduced their risk of developing breast cancer by 32% by supplementing with fish oil.