Studies that point to the harmful effects of sedentary life and remind us that “moving is good for your health” are constantly on the rise. Thus, in recent months, scientists have reminded us that moving is good for preserving our cognitive abilities, moving reduces the risk of breast cancer, moving reduces the risk of diabetes, without forgetting that moving is also good for stimulating our creative spirit. In short, moving should become the first survival gesture to learn!
But a new American study comes to drive the point home by pointing out that it is not enough to walk between 30 and 60 minutes a day to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. You also have to spend a lot less time sitting. However, according to the World Health Organization, 42% of the active population (men and women combined) spends an average of 4 hours each day sitting (at the office, on public transport, at home) and 3:17 hours in front of computer or television screens. A sedentary lifestyle that could prove fatal if we are to believe this new study from the University of Kansas which emphasizes that the public should not only be encouraged to move more but that they should also be advised to spend less time in a seated position.
“When you sit, there is very little muscle activity, the lipoprotein lipase (or LPL) enzymes of which are not used by the muscle cells, which do not need them, but they come to be fixed in fat cells,” explains Professor Sara Rosenkranz, who led this study. “Also, to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, everyone should have the reflex to get up from their chair several times a day to go for a few steps, before returning to their task”.
