Prolonged Sitting At Work Can Be 'Dangerous' For Your Health

Sitting too long at work can be dangerous for your health, suggest experts.

Those who stand at work say that it helps them stay focused, avoid feeling they need a nap in the afternoon and even helps them shed pounds.

Marc Hamilton, a physiologist at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, discovered that when he prevented lab mice from standing up, an enzyme that burns fat gets turned off, which can lead to weight gain.

"This enzyme is virtually shut off within hours of not standing, completely independent of diet, completely independent of weight changes," ABC News quoted Hamilton, as saying.

"I think sitting is very dangerous."

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A study showed that sitting for long stretches, more than six hours a day, can make someone at least 18 percent more likely to die from diabetes, heart disease and obesity than those sitting less than three hours a day. Technology Led To Sitting Culture

"Sitting has become the most common human behavior, literally, it outstrips the amount of time we spend sleeping."

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Hamilton said that sitting has become a new form of smoking. Smoking was once so common that people were reluctant to see the health hazard it posed.

"Smoking and sitting too much have some striking parallels."Decades ago smoking was so common that everyone perceived that ... not only was it an acceptable behavior, but that there was safety in numbers," Hamilton added.

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The American Journal of Epidemiology has published the study.

Source-ANI