阅读理解
Sitting too much is now listed with smoking
and junk food as a bad habit that increases your risk of heart disease.
New Australian research shows that half-an-hour
in the gym will not make up for the waist-expanding damage caused by spending
the rest of the day sitting.
But the good news is that doing chores(家务杂事) in the house or gently walking around the office while on the
phone might be enough to keep you fit.
The study joins the growing body of
evidence suggesting too much sitting might undo the benefits of exercise.
The study measured the intensity(强度)of physical activities in 168 subjects over seven days. If found
that, regardless of how much exercise they did or their total sitting time,
those who took more breaks from sitting had lower risk of thick waists and
lower levels of blood lipids(脂质).
“Higher
levels of blood lipids have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease,”principal researcher Genevieve Healy of the University of Queensland
said. "What the study shows is that there are benefits in just getting up
regularly and interrupting your sitting time."
Researchers behind the Stand up Australia
project have written to the Rudd Government requesting $ 3.5 million for a two
year study into how long sitting affects the health and productivity of
workers.
The latest study builds on work that is
shifting the health promotion focus from purposeful exercise, such as running,
to lower intensity activities throughout the day.
The Australian research bas been backed up
US studies, which show standing up is enough to double the metabolic(新陈代谢) rate and the amount of calories burnt.
“To hold a
body that weighs 77kilograms upright take a .fair amount of energy from muscles",
said professor Marc Hamilton from the University of Missouri. "There is a
large amount of energy associated with standing every day that cannot be easily
replaced by, 30 to 60minutes in the gym."
