Well, we all know a sedentary lifestyle isn’t good for our health and waist, but another study has shown that desk jobs make our waists larger and increase risk for heart disease.
Researchers at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick in the UK have found that postal workers doing desk jobs have bigger waists and increased risk of heart disease compared to their coworkers who do deliveries.
They studied 111 healthy postal workers in the city of Glasgow, England. Fifty-five were office workers and fifty-six delivered postal mails.
Expanding Waists
The workers with desk jobs had a bigger waist circumference. These desk-bound workers averaged a waist size of 97 cm (38.2-inch) compared to 94 cm (37-inch) for active delivery workers. That’s over an inch larger waist size.
On top of that, the desk workers had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease — 2.2% compared to 1.6% over ten years.
The researchers calculated that waist circumference increases by 2 cm (0.8 inches), and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2%, for every additional hour of sitting on top of five hours.
Also, the bad cholesterol (LDL) increases and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases with each additional hour of sitting from five hours a day.
In the study, all the workers wore devices that tracked their physical activity and position.
Their weight, height and blood pressure were measured. Their blood samples were also taken.
The workers were from the Royal Mail in Glasgow, and the entire study took place between September 2007 and September 2007.
It’s clear that just sitting at a desk most of the day impacts our waist size, cholesterol, and risk of heart disease.
In order to cancel out the effects of sitting at a desk all day, you will need to stand for 7 hours or walk seven to eight miles a day.
If you sit at your desk most of the day, then really try to be active the rest of the day. Try being on your feet longer, and walking and exercising more. In other words, be active!
Journal Reference:
W W Tigbe, M H Granat, N Sattar, M E J Lean. Time spent in sedentary posture is associated with waist circumference and cardiovascular risk. International Journal of Obesity, 2017; http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.30
