Read This Before You Put Your Feet Up
Is sitting the new smoking?
Sitting is the new smoking is a catchy phrase, isn’t it? The kind of sound byte that makes PR people wriggle in their chairs.
The chair they’re sitting on. Safely. Because sitting isn’t the new smoking.
One obvious difference between these two modalities is that you need a second mortgage to buy a packet of cigarettes these days and sitting is free.
And you can’t smoke in many public places but can sit almost anywhere.
But, yes, I know that the saying refers to your health but it’s still incorrect. The phrase has been knocking around since Dr Anup Kanodia said it in a Los Angeles Times article even though it’s been disproved countless times.
So why is it still touted in articles? Maybe because, whilst sitting isn’t as harmful to your health as smoking, it’s still harmful.
Tobacco is the second leading health risk factor, and high blood pressure is the first, but inactivity is now globally recognised as the fourth leading risk factor for death so maybe you should take the risk more seriously.
What’s the Problem with Sitting?
The World Health Organisation, WHO, said that sitting is associated with cardiovascular…
