A few days ago I saw a worrisome headline when I look over & opened my local newspaper; I say look over metaphorically, because I typically only consume information through screens.
“Television Linked to All Kinds of Risk,” it said, going on to explain the connection between watching television and an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Hey! It's alright, I’m too busy to watch much TV, I thought.
But the study makes clear that it’s not just TV that’s detrimental. It’s sitting and staring for long periods of time at any screen in general. In fact, this was just the latest in a long line of studies showing that sitting – that silent, cozy killer – raises the risk for heart disease and early death fortified with less or no physical activity.
So, while my daily half-hour work-out probably won’t do me in, the very essence of my computer-based lifestyle just rising. As someone who cares about health nearly as much as I care about the Internet – oh so deeply – this was alarming.
It’s enough to make one wonder whether the past few generations’ aspiration toward “sit-down” work might have been misplaced. For the past 50 years, people have been flocking to colleges in order to better themselves and, in many cases, to get high-powered office jobs.
What’s more, young people have increasingly sought their fortunes in big cities, a dream that worsens traffic congestion and lengthens commutes in running late city transports.
More and more, it seems that everything about the idealized urban life – the hip urban setting, the mid-size car, the creative and overvalued white or blue-collar jobs – may be great for our wallets and minds, but not for our bodies it seems.
A 2010 editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that sitting interferes with the body’s ability to regulate glucose and fat, which may lead to obesity and heart problems later in life. At least, my lower back switch goes off, if I’m sitting too long, making me unable to continue until I get up and drink a cup of coffee then able to recommence my connection.
Long commutes, like those from your house just outside of town to your office in the “big city,” are associated with lost sleep, stress, poorer food choices and, usually, more sitting.
Then there are all the other nasty externalities, like the recently-reported increase in near-sightedness associated with artificial indoor lighting.
In light of all this, it would be surprising if any truly healthy careers remain. If such a thing did exist, it would probably involve physical activity for the lucky uncreative and undervalued white or blue-collar jobs, living near work and seeing natural light from time to time. Nevertheless, before you quit your office job and get back to nature, consider that fishers, loggers and steelworkers have some of the highest rates of fatalities of their own.
It seems an organic farmer or suburban yoga teacher can probably start planning summer vacations earlier than the rest. But for the rest of you, it appears even the comfortable confines of office buildings don’t protect you from the creeping health perils of modernity.
However, there are obviously reasons why people aren’t abandoning the corporate ladder to go restore their cardiovascular systems by stocking shelves at the Gap. Many office jobs provide cognitive benefits that are so great you’re willing to ignore the dermatological fat growing on your midsections. The buzz we get from finishing a demanding project can make up for our lacking (physical activity) the physique of a Royal Caribbean dancer.
Since we all can’t quit and move to Sunshine, the best alternative for us indoor screeners is to re-think our ideas about work and recreation (physical activity). Companies should be heeding the warning calls of scientists and incorporating more physical activity into work places. It’s a start, but there are plenty more examples out there including walking meetings and having ridiculous but amazing treadmill desk.
There’s also the option of moving closer to work to avoid those soul-crushing commutes or hopping on a bike to make the commute function as exercise time. City planners also should do more to make sure we have the bike lanes available to do it safely.
And if we just can’t escape our endless days of sitting, there’s always the option of taking up a productive but physically challenging hobby. After a week of hard sitting, a weekend of building houses and social activities would make any dream office job seem even dreamier. My finally suggestion would be make no mistakes or excuses to do physical activity.
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