[ti:Sit Less, Live Longer] [ar:Anna Matteo] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report. [00:04.64]If you are sitting down listening to this Health Report, [00:09.17]stand up. Move your legs. Touch your toes, [00:13.97]if you can. Do anything but sit. [00:17.55]If you cut down on the time you spend sitting, [00:21.71]you might live longer. [00:23.45]New research shows that sitting less than three hours a day [00:29.08]might extend your life by two years. [00:32.81]The human body is designed to move. [00:36.12]But modern lifestyles and office jobs [00:40.02]rarely give us the chance to move around. [00:43.20]Just the opposite, says Peter Katzmarzyk. [00:47.79]He is a scientist at the University of Louisiana [00:52.52]in the southern United States. [00:54.76]He says that sitting is ubiquitous in our lives, [00:59.89]meaning it is something we do all the time, everywhere. [01:05.68]But, he adds, that does not make sitting good for us. [01:10.82]"Sitting is ubiquitous in our lives today. [01:13.82]You know, we sit while we're eating, [01:16.26]we sit in the car, we sit while we watch TV. [01:19.15]And many of us sit for many hours at work. [01:21.73]So on average, Americans report [01:24.17]that they sit between four and a half to five hours a day." [01:28.27]Mr. Katzmarzyk says you may exercise often. [01:32.18]But, he says even that does not mean [01:36.62]you can sit for the rest of your waking hours. [01:40.27]"We can't throw away physical activity. [01:43.32]It's extremely important. [01:44.60]We have 60 years of research showing us that. [01:47.65]But sedentary behavior is also important -- [01:51.55]even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day. [01:54.46]What goes on in the other 23-and-a-half hours a day [01:57.74]is also very important." [01:58.89]Mr. Katzmarzyk and his co-workers, or colleagues, [02:03.62]are part of a new generation of researchers studying [02:08.36]how sitting all day affects length of life. [02:12.80]Such studies are rare. [02:15.64]"This is a relatively new area of study - [02:19.07]studies that have assessed the relationship [02:21.27]between sitting and mortality or television viewing [02:25.40]and mortality are very rare. [02:27.60]There's only been a few of them, [02:29.15]actually five or six now, [02:30.84]in the last four or five years." [02:32.93]Mr. Karzmarzyk and his colleagues [02:35.61]used the few rare studies available to them. [02:39.77]They found that cutting television time [02:43.42]to less than two hours a day [02:47.72]could add one-point four years to life. [02:51.77]Change is already coming to some offices, [02:56.24]especially in the design of desks. [03:00.19]A "standing desk" lets people stand while they work. [03:05.81]Another design is called the "treadmill desk." [03:10.44]A treadmill is an exercise machine [03:13.82]that lets you walk in one place. [03:16.52]Even some U.S. schools are beginning to experiment [03:21.19]with desks that are part bicycle to keep children moving. [03:26.83]"That's one of the strategies that many companies are using now. [03:30.02]They may have got five standing desks for their employees [03:32.86]or a treadmill desk. [03:34.11]I've heard of other companies [03:35.71]where they may not buy one for everybody .. [03:37.50]but they'll have a bank of these desks [03:40.19]where people can go for an hour a day [03:44.09]and answer their emails or talk on the phone." [03:46.43]Mr. Katzmarzyk says studying this problem [03:49.67]has inspired his team to make a few changes in their own lives. [03:55.66]"As a university professor, you know, [03:57.49]it is a very sedentary occupation. [03:59.53]We're chained to a desk in terms of writing papers and doing research. [04:03.62]We really try to limit the amount of time we spend doing that." [04:07.47]If you work in office job or have a sedentary job, [04:12.30]Mr. Katzmarzyk and his team suggest a few simple changes: [04:18.87]get up from your desk as often as you can [04:22.57]take walks at lunch time [04:25.66]instead of emailing colleagues, [04:29.01]walk to their offices and talk directly [04:32.10]All these activities may help you live longer. [04:35.99]Research on the good effects of sitting less [04:39.93]is published in the online journal, [04:42.87]British Medical Journal Open. [04:45.41]And that's the Health Report, from VOA Learning English. [04:50.09]I'm Anna Matteo.