By Alexis George
You’re sitting on your couch, your dad is at work sitting at his desk all day. Your mom is sitting on the computer and your older sister is sitting down, talking on the phone. Spot a trend? Sitting has become a second nature. But the truth of the matter is if you are sitting more than six hours a day than you can be at risk of becoming obese.
Marc Hamilton, a physiologist in Louisiana, discovered that when he prevented lab mice from standing up an enzyme that burns fat gets turned off. Is this what is happening to us? Well there are a few exceptions, If you are eating healthy and not overeating you will be less at risk of becoming obese.
Studies have found that sitting and smoking have striking parallels. Decades ago, smoking was so socially acceptable almost everyone did it, not only did we believe it was acceptable but that it was not harmful to our health either. Is there anything we can do? Well there is, and we have already started doing it.
As shown on ABC News the people in an office in Minneapolis, Minn have gone from overeating and sitting at a desk all day to having treadmill desks and walking meetings. If we can do these things in offices around the U.S. maybe we can lower obesity rates and have a healthier lifestyle. So next time you are offered a chair when you don’t need one think twice about your answer.
