(Vicki Santillano, DivineCaroline) A recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology linking excessive sitting time with increased risk of dying. The study also concluded that whether you exercise or not makes little difference. Uh-oh.
According to results, men and women who sat longer than six hours were more likely to die at the time of the study than those who sat for fewer than three hours. Six hours sounds like a long time to stay put, but considering a large portion of Americans have desk jobs and spend their off-time being couch potatoes, maybe that’s not so surprising. It made me wonder about our culture’s sedentary nature and how it affects us.
1. We spend 8.5 hours a day in front of screens.
That’s what Ball State University researchers found out in 2009 when they recorded how much visual media people are exposed to on a daily basis, and through what mediums. Their results showed that across most age groups, consumers spend almost nine hours a day in front of the TV and computer, using mobile devices like the iPhone, and watching movies.
Another survey done that same year had similar results: The Nielsen Company’s Three Screen Report found that Americans watch about 153 hours of TV every month per person -- and that doesn’t include anything watched online or via smartphones.
2. Work-life lasts 7.5 hours every day. Active life? Not so much.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted an American Time Use Survey in 2009 showing 7.5 hours as the average amount of time Americans spend working daily. Ted Schadler of Forrester Research estimates that 34 million Americans work from home at least part of the time, which often contributes to a sedentary lifestyle by eliminating the need to get up and leave the house, walk to a coworker’s desk for a meeting, and so forth. (Plus, the kitchen’s right there.) That number is expected to reach 63 million by 2016.
Comparatively, the 2010 National Health Interview Survey found that only 31 percent of people do the recommended thirty minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week. In fact, 40 percent of people don’t engage in any kind of regular exercise at all.
3. This all leads to fifty-six hours of sitting every week.A 2009 issue of Women’s Health reported on a poll conducted by the Institute for Medicine and Public Health that showed the average American spends a little over 33 percent of the week sitting. Given how much we work, watch TV, and don’t exercise, that seems about right.
4. Three out of four Americans have an increased skin-cancer risk partly caused by sitting indoors so much.Recent research suggests office workers are more at risk for malignant melanoma than outside workers. In exploring this surprising rise, the authors of a 2009 study published in Medical Hypotheses discovered two significant factors: harmful UVA exposure from outside light through windows and a lack of vitamin D.
The vitamin D problem is a persistent one in this country. A 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 75 percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, partly due to insufficient time outdoors (because we’re spending too much time working and watching TV indoors).
We need vitamin D to fight melanoma, but the only way to get a sufficient amount is through proper diet and plenty of sunshine. A deficiency in vitamin D also contributes to osteoporosis and cardiovascular issues.
5. Constantly sitting makes our bodies wider.
Not surprisingly, sedentary jobs and habits, as well as our culture’s penchant for greasy food and big portions, invariably lead to weight gain. Forty-four percent of workers in a 2010 Careerbuilder.com survey reported that they had put on weight at their jobs. Forty-nine percent of them attributed it to sitting at a desk most of the day. That could be because being sedentary for long periods of time causes the metabolism to slow and less effectively break down fats and sugars.
6. Most things around us have gotten wider, too.As a result of the country’s collective weight gain, specialized office furniture is now made to support heavier loads. Theater seats increased from 19 to 21 inches in the last century. Doors and church pews have gotten a little wider, too.
7. Our mothers were wrong: Fidgeting in seats is a good thing.
The more you move in any capacity, be it pacing or wiggling in your seat, the less likely you are to gain weight, at least according to a 2005 study at the Mayo Clinic. Scientists studied the actions and tracked the caloric intake of obese and thin people for a period of time.
They found that the thin participants sat 150 minutes less per day than the obese ones because they tended to fidget more, which meant that they burned an average 350 calories more. Even tapping your foot under the desk works; it’s a movement that continuously activates leg muscles without requiring much energy or thought.
There’s at least one alternative to sitting in a desk chair all day, and that’s the treadmill desk championed by the same Mayo Clinic researchers who studied fidgeting. You walk on the treadmill at any pace you like and type, talk on the phone, and conduct work as you would sitting -- only this way you’re burning way more calories.
But if your employers won’t spring for that, try to stand up and stretch or walk around at least once an hour. Just don’t stand hunched over your keyboard all day, as I’ve been doing since learning about the horrors of constant sitting. It barely makes a difference calorically, and then you have to explain to confused coworkers why you think your office chair is killing you.
*Interesting article about sitting too long. We all need physical activity daily in our day to day. Again, if we can all just start thinking differently about getting up off of our asses, then maybe more folks can be in better shape. Diva's Nation just keeking it real*
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Saturday, February 12, 2011
Diet Pepsi 'skinny' can stirs up big controversy!
(SARAH SKIDMORE, AP Food Industry Writer) Diet Pepsi has introduced a new "skinny" can for Fashion Week, but some critics are giving it a big, fat "no."
The can is a "taller, sassier" version of the traditional can that the company says was made in "celebration of beautiful, confident women." Some say Pepsi's approach only reinforces dangerous stereotypes about women and body image.
PepsiCo Inc. presented the new can at New York's Fashion Week, which began Thursday. It will be available to consumers nationwide in March.
The company, a Fashion Week sponsor, is hosting a series of events to launch the new can, include collaborations with popular designers such as Charlotte Ronson and Betsey Johnson.
"Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks, and we're excited to throw its coming-out party during the biggest celebration of innovative design in the world," Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo said in a statement.
Critics say it is nothing to celebrate.
Brand experts praised the new design but say the company may be a bit off on its sales pitch that skinny is better. The National Eating Disorders Association said it takes offense to the can and said the company's comments are both "thoughtless and irresponsible."
Libby Copeland summed up many of the criticisms in an article for Slate.
"Same old story - aspirational, looks-oriented advertising with a thin layer of faux-empowerment on top," Copeland wrote. "If you're confident on the inside, you'll be skinny on the outside, or something. Huh?"
Pepsi said that can and its campaign are focused on design.
"We are sensitive to this interpretation, and that is definitely not our intent," the company said in an e-mailed statement. "We intend to highlight the innovative look for Diet Pepsi and provide our fans with an "inside look" at events that celebrate innovation and style."
The company will take its campaign one step further on Feb. 28 when it launches a print advertisement for the new can featuring the buxom actress Sofia Vergara.
Pepsi says it will continue to sell its traditional-sized can.
*WOW! A skinny Pepsi can! Pepsi must really think the consumers have lost their marbles! A skinny can doesn't hide the sugar, calories or the salt. No matter what they do, a soda is a still a soda*
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The can is a "taller, sassier" version of the traditional can that the company says was made in "celebration of beautiful, confident women." Some say Pepsi's approach only reinforces dangerous stereotypes about women and body image.
PepsiCo Inc. presented the new can at New York's Fashion Week, which began Thursday. It will be available to consumers nationwide in March.
The company, a Fashion Week sponsor, is hosting a series of events to launch the new can, include collaborations with popular designers such as Charlotte Ronson and Betsey Johnson.
"Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks, and we're excited to throw its coming-out party during the biggest celebration of innovative design in the world," Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo said in a statement.
Critics say it is nothing to celebrate.
Brand experts praised the new design but say the company may be a bit off on its sales pitch that skinny is better. The National Eating Disorders Association said it takes offense to the can and said the company's comments are both "thoughtless and irresponsible."
Libby Copeland summed up many of the criticisms in an article for Slate.
"Same old story - aspirational, looks-oriented advertising with a thin layer of faux-empowerment on top," Copeland wrote. "If you're confident on the inside, you'll be skinny on the outside, or something. Huh?"
Pepsi said that can and its campaign are focused on design.
"We are sensitive to this interpretation, and that is definitely not our intent," the company said in an e-mailed statement. "We intend to highlight the innovative look for Diet Pepsi and provide our fans with an "inside look" at events that celebrate innovation and style."
The company will take its campaign one step further on Feb. 28 when it launches a print advertisement for the new can featuring the buxom actress Sofia Vergara.
Pepsi says it will continue to sell its traditional-sized can.
*WOW! A skinny Pepsi can! Pepsi must really think the consumers have lost their marbles! A skinny can doesn't hide the sugar, calories or the salt. No matter what they do, a soda is a still a soda*
Diva's Nation
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Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence: WHO!
(Reuters) – Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.
Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.
Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.
Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health."
"The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading risk factor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.
In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.
Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO.
"Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.
Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.
DISEASE AND INJURY
Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.
Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver.
"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.
Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.
Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.
In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.
Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.
One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.
Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events.
"Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.
Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.
But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.
Diva's Nation
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Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.
Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.
Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health."
"The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading risk factor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.
In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.
Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO.
"Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.
Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.
DISEASE AND INJURY
Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.
Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver.
"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.
Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.
Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.
In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.
Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.
One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.
Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events.
"Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.
Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.
But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.
Diva's Nation
*Join The Conversation*
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