Research out of St. Louis indicates some troubling trends regarding sitting and health problems. Researchers report we are still sitting way too much despite the warnings we've been given.
The research let by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis tracked 50 thousand people across multiple ages, racial ethnic groups and found some troubling trends regarding sitting and our health.
Dr. Melinda Sothern Professor of Public Health at LSU Health New Orleans says all that sitting is increasing the risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.
"There is a big difference between sitting and just standing and shuffling your feet," Sothern said. "It's about 4 to 5 times the caloric expenditure to just standing and moving your feet back and forth. It's going to be a game-changer for lots of us, in terms of getting that edge on that sedentary behavior so that we lower our risk for disease."
The recommendation is 11 thousand steps a day but..."Even if you get that in, you still could be sitting for 6 or 7 hours at a desk or at home when you feel tired," Sothern added. "One of the things we like to tell people is when you get home grab a drink of water because you're probably dehydrated and go do something outside for at least thirty minutes to an hour. You're actually going to feel less fatigued. You're going to feel like doing more."
Sothern says pay close attention to how much you are sitting.