AARP Bulletin - January 2012

This special section was produced by the AARP Bulletin.

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hours daily, according to a recent American Cancer Society study. This was true even for women who exercised regularly.

In a University of South Carolina study, even physically active men were 64 percent more likely to die of heart disease if they sat more than 23 hours a week in front of the TV, compared with those who sat 11 hours a week or less.

Prolonged sitting appears to have powerful metabolic consequences, disrupting processes that break down fats and sugars in the blood. In animal studies, inactive mice and rats quickly develop higher blood fats and lower levels of good cholesterol, which together increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. An Australian study suggests a link between a sedentary lifestyle and several key biological indicators of cancer risk, including insulin resistance, inflammation and body weight.

Older adults will
remember pre-
soccer-mom days
of walking to school,
ing the dishes. Technology,
experts say, has engineered
physical activity out of daily
life. With the advent of person-
al computers and cable TV, not to
mention remotes and garage door
openers, there is scarcely a reason to
get out of your seat.
Physical activity in the workplace
has fallen, too, according to a recent
study. Fifty years ago, more than
half of American jobs involved
moderate physical activity,
often in manufacturing or ag-
riculture, reports Pennington
Last year, registered dietitian Jill
Weisenberger wrote a book and start-
ed worrying about sitting too much.

“I jog every morning, but what about the other 23 hours a day? I’ve read that sitting makes the blood vessels less elastic, and I didn’t want to be a jogger and a dietitian with heart disease,” says Weisenberger, 50, of Yorktown, Va. At home she began walking a circuit while cooking dinner. Then she bought a desk equipped to fit over a treadmill and now logs 30 to 35 miles a week walking at 1.4 miles per hour. “I can type, read email, surf the Net—anything except have pretty handwriting,” she says.

The Cancer Society’s Patel stands during conference calls, uses a printer in another office, and eschews email and the telephone to walk over to a colleague’s office. She also sits on an exercise ball. “It’s called ‘active sitting.’ If you slouch you fall off,” she says. She takes a brisk 20-minute walk at lunch, adding longer walks before or after work. By reducing sitting time and ramping up physical activity, Patel also lost 40 pounds in six months. ;