Be Well, 0817 WYBJ, Vol. 40 No. 4. 56
| Author | Maryt L. Fredrickson Ninth Judicial District Court Jackson, Wyoming |
All Rise–Sitting v. Smoking
Maryt L. Fredrickson Ninth Judicial District Court Jackson, Wyoming
I spent the summer after my first year of law school as an extern. Te attorney whose office was across from mine had a standing desk. He explained many times that it helped his back feel better. Ten, a few years ago, I heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking.” I didn’t give it much thought. I figured I was healthy, active, and that my activity level countered any ill effects of sitting. More recently, some folks down the hall from my office got standing desks. A few months later, the offices downstairs got standing desks. I began to ask around and realized that more and more colleagues were getting standing desks—whether the colleagues worked in a state or county office, judicial chambers, or in a private law farm.
Surrounded by the happy faces of colleagues with standing desks, I joined the trend and got a standing desk. My core feels more engaged now than when I sit plopped in a chair, using almost no muscle energy. My legs keep working as my weight shifts from time to time. I can bend my legs, stretch my feet, rotate my ankles, and otherwise move my body in a way that feels good. My brain is just as engaged as when I was sitting and yet, I have more energy overall.
Physical Health Effects
“Sitting is the new smoking” is a phrase coined by James Levine, M.D., a director at the Mayo Clinic–Arizona State University. According to Dr. Levine, “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”
Think for a moment about how much you sit in a day. You might sit in a car to drive to work. Ten, you might sit in a chair at your desk. You sit in a colleague’s office or a conference room for a meeting. You sit in a chair most of the time in a courtroom. Ten, you sit again driving home. At home, you sit to eat dinner. You sit to watch television or fiddle with your smartphone. Now consider, of all the hours you were awake, how much time did you spend not sitting?
According to the research studies, the physical health impacts of sitting include: • Increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.[1] While sitting does not cause diabetes, increased inactivity correlates to an in-crease risk of developing the disease.
• Increased risk...
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