0 Sitting Less Could Extend Your Life

How much do you think a sedentary lifestyle will affect your overall health? Accordingto new research, if most people spent less than three hours a day sitting, it would add two years to the average life expectancy in this country. In addition, if they cut the time they spent on the couch watching TV to less than two hours a day it would add about 1.4 years to overall life expectancy.

"Sitting is a dangerous risk factor for early death, on par with smoking and being obese," says Peter Katzmarzyk, a researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge and lead author of the study.

Many people are finding that standing for a short period of time while working makes them feel better about their overall health. A study at the University of Massachusetts showed that when volunteers stood all day, they burned hundreds more calories than their fellow sitters. Standing isn’t considered exercise, but it can aid in the efforts to stay healthy.

Endocrinologist James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, talks about sitting disease and how to get out of the chair and move more. Findout the answers to some of the most common questions about sitting and how it can affect your health. Then tell us how many hours a day you sit and if you have strategies to incorporate movement into your day. Getting the care and information you need, when you need it, isn’t too much to ask. Your voice matters.