Page 104 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2017

HEALTHY LIVING don’t be idle
SITTING IS THE NEW
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by Dara Parker
From the time we wake in the morning until we return to our beds at night, the modern workday is often filled with an endless sedentary cycle. Sitting for meals and during the commute, then sitting some more as we click away on our keyboards throughout the day is standard procedure. But could it be harmful to our health?
The Los Angeles Times recently interviewed Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk. Levine has been studying the adverse effects of increasingly sedentary lifestyles for years and firmly believes that sitting is taking a major toll on employees.
“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death,” Levine said in the interview.
Levine is credited with coining the phrase “sitting is the new smoking,” but he’s not the only one who believes
it. Abby Sniffen, registered dietitian/nutritionist at South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center, agrees, adding that being physically inactive is considered a health risk
for certain illnesses such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis, and increases the risk of certain cancers such as breast and colon.
“Being physically active can lessen your chances of getting these diseases,” Sniffen said. “It decreases stress, restores attention, and helps you be more productive with fewer aches and pains.”
One reason the smoking analogy is so relevant is that the effects of long-term sitting are not reversible through exercise or other good habits.
Much like smoking, sitting
for extended periods of time is bad for our health, and the only way to reduce that risk
is to change the way we work.
Sniffen offered a variety of steps to help deal with the effects of long-term sitting, such as standing up briefly every 15 minutes or so,
taking mid-morning and mid- afternoon breaks to drink some water and eat a healthy snack of lean protein and high-fiber carbohydrates,
or walking over to your co- worker to talk instead of sending an email. “Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk during lunch and park your car farther away in the parking lot,” she added.
Taking the initiative to be active in the workplace is
104 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • July 2017
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