{"id":5747,"date":"2014-01-09T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=5747"},"modified":"2015-12-02T11:17:23","modified_gmt":"2015-12-02T16:17:23","slug":"is-sitting-the-new-smoking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/01\/is-sitting-the-new-smoking.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Sitting the New Smoking?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sitting\"<\/a>Listen up all you couch potatoes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m actually standing while typing this! Here is why.<\/p>\n

Too much sitting is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and early death from all causes. That\u2019s right, the World Health Organization puts sitting or physical inactivity 4th<\/sup> on the list of risk factors for death worldwide.<\/p>\n

And while sitting isn\u2019t good for either gender, women fare worse when it comes to spending the day in a chair. According to a study by the American Cancer Institute, women who sat for more than six hours a day were more likely to die than women who sat for three hours or less a day.<\/p>\n

So if you are like me and have a job that requires more than six hours sitting at a desk, here are a few ideas to help us avoid those dismal statistics.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0 Stand whenever possible\u2014during meetings, while on the phone, take the stairs, etc. Standing or moving triggers the body to break down fats and sugars.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0 Put your computer on a higher desk that allows you to stand part of the day and work.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0 If your company can get a treadmill, put one in a break room and get on it for 10 minutes at a time.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0 Take an exercise class although exercising a few times a week doesn\u2019t seem to undo all the sitting problems.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0 Walk around your office space a few times a day.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0 Have meetings while walking.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0\u00a0 Work through lunch, leave early and work out if your boss will allow it.<\/p>\n

8)\u00a0\u00a0 Set a timer and make yourself get up and walk around.<\/p>\n

9)\u00a0\u00a0 Buy a pediometer and track your steps<\/p>\n

10) \u00a0Order a stand-up deak or treadmill desk station\u2014they are pricey, but if your company will do it, it is worth it.<\/p>\n

OK, I\u2019m going to catch a little TV but be marching in place when I watch!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen up all you couch potatoes. I\u2019m actually standing while typing this! Here is why. Too much sitting is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and early death from all causes. That\u2019s right, the World Health Organization puts sitting or physical inactivity 4th on the list of risk factors for death worldwide. And while sitting isn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[918],"tags":[16,2686,2688,12,2687,2684,2685,94],"class_list":["post-5747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-relationship-to-food","tag-exercise","tag-inactivity","tag-office-jobs","tag-physical-health","tag-sedentary","tag-sitting","tag-smoking","tag-walking"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Sitting the New Smoking?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Sitting the New Smoking?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Listen up all you couch potatoes. I\u2019m actually standing while typing this! Here is why. Too much sitting is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and early death from all causes. That\u2019s right, the World Health Organization puts sitting or physical inactivity 4th on the list of risk factors for death worldwide. And while sitting isn\u2019t…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-09T12:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-02T16:17:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/01\/sitting-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Sitting the New Smoking?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Sitting the New Smoking?","og_description":"Listen up all you couch potatoes. I\u2019m actually standing while typing this! Here is why. Too much sitting is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and early death from all causes. That\u2019s right, the World Health Organization puts sitting or physical inactivity 4th on the list of risk factors for death worldwide. And while sitting isn\u2019t…","og_url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2014-01-09T12:00:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-02T16:17:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/01\/sitting-199x300.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2014\/01\/is-sitting-the-new-smoking.html","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx","name":"Is Sitting the New Smoking?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/01\/sitting-199x300.jpg","datePublished":"2014-01-09T12:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-02T16:17:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/01\/sitting-199x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/01\/sitting-199x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Health\/galleries\/Is-Sitting-the-New-Smoking.aspx#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Sitting the New Smoking?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5747"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7771,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5747\/revisions\/7771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}