By Leslee Jaquette
It turns out that being borderline ADHD may not be such a bad thing. That is, my incredibly short attention span and desire to jump up and run around, may be healthy!
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “The Toll of Sitting All Day (Tues., Sept. 29, 2015),” lots of research is going into studying the negative effects of sitting for long periods of time, uh, like at a desk. So far, researchers have identified at least 35 diseases, from diabetes and osteoporosis to cancer, that sedentary people are more at risk for. To shut-down this trend, researchers are starting to develop prescriptions for how long people should spend sitting and standing.
Here is ergonomics expert Alan Hedge’s solution: for every half-hour working in the office, people should sit for 20 minutes, stand for eight minutes and, then, move around and stretch for two minutes.
Research from NASA has found that standing up for two minutes 16 times a day while at work is an effective strategy for maintaining bone and muscle density.
Best of all, says the research, get a job that allows you to move around, be on your feet for more than two hours a day. That seems to be the threshold for reducing risk for bad chronic diseases.
So, what do you think your boss will say when he/she sees you wiggling around throughout the day? Do you think they will “buy” the research?
