Death By Desk: Is Your Job Killing You?
Reported November 3, 2011
NEW YORK (Ivanhoe Newswire) –Work may be hazardous to your health! New research shows sitting at your desk all day could be killing you. And if you think you’re covered because you hit the gym, think again. Sitting for hours at a time can reverse those benefits!
“Good morning please come to the lobby for stretch and flex!”
This is how the day begins at Skanska, an international project development and construction company. Instead of coffee and donuts
It’s bending and stretching, senior director for business development Deborah Ippolito is leading the morning routine.
“We all have a tendency to sit at our desks all day long. We stretch, we get energize in our bodies,” Deborah Ippolito, Senior director of business development told Ivanhoe.
And for good reason. New research shows people who sit at their desk all day are at an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, even an early death. One study from the American Cancer Society showed people who sat more than six hours a day were at least 18 percent more likely to die than those who sat less than three hours a day.
That’s why Dr. Michael Roizen is taking steps to combat the problem with a treadmill desk at work. If that’s not an option, here are some tips to keep your desk from killing you: first get moving. Don’t send emails when you can deliver the message, stand up when you take a phone call and when you take a break, get outside and take a walk. Other things to watch out for? Your eyes. Karin Mora can’t help but stare intensely at her work computer.
“You focus so much on what you’re reading that you don’t think to blink,” Karin Mora told Ivanhoe.
To beat the strain that can lead to headaches and blurred vision take ‘blink’ breaks to give your eyes a rest…lowering your risk of death by desk.
A new study of how Americans work shows that as we have made the move to desk jobs we have become less active, leading to obesity and other health issues. The study found that 80 percent of jobs are classified as sedentary, compared to 50 percent in 1960. Experts say taking mini breaks every 30 minutes is the best way to keep your blood flowing and reduce your risk of disease.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
www.who.int
