“Chronic Sitting is a Health Hazard”

A recently published Australian study in the Interntional Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, determined that those individuals sitting four or more hours a day had an increased risk of a range of diseases, among those cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Thus, “chronic sitting” is a risk for disease. Of the numerous visits Holly and I have made to our local farms, we noticed one similarity among the farmers we met. None of them sat, at least not for prolonged periods of time. They start their day when the sun rises, and then spend the rest of it standing, bending, and walking. When most of us are home preparing dinner and winding down for the evening in front of the television, our farmer friends are still out in their garden. On the numerous occasions I met up with Dayna at her farm, she was always out in the orchard, among the trees, often with a citrus picking sack slung around her shoulder. Her work hours are spent in the orchard, as well as her down time. For the rest of us, who aren’t lucky enough to have a farm office, sitting may come as part of our job, an unmodifiable requirement. But what we do have control over are the hours away from work, and maximizing as much of that time, doing everything and anything but sitting. If the Australian researchers have discovered that 4 or more hours of sitting is detrimental to our health, then we can right as much of that as possible. Walking as much as possible, fitting a stroll in during lunch, taking a quick jaunt around the block after work, and tracking our daily steps (goal of 10,000 right?!). Let’s all stand together, and commit to undoing the damage of what four of more extra hours of sitting does to hour bodies and our health. Our local farmers are maximizing not sitting even after their usual full days work is over, we can do that too. Start a garden, and let that be your backyard office after a day at the office, spend as much time in your garden as possible, afterall, we are put through the pain of daylight savings every six months, take advantage of that extra daylight and use that time outside. Let’s take a recommendation from our farmers, time in the garden, backyard farm, just plain being outside is a long term benefit to your health.