Stand Up to Weight Loss; It Burns
Twice the Calories of Sitting
February 24, 2005
Death is often a sad and sudden event which changes
the course of life for those left behind. But when scientists
look at the deaths of large groups of people over time,
studying how these people lived and why they died, those
deaths can have great value. They can teach us what
behaviors we must change to live longer.
The Harvard Nurses' Health Study gives us such a perspective.
One of the most massive longitudinal studies in existence,
it has analyzed the lifestyle and mortality of one of
America's most trusted professionals, nurses, over two
decades. When originally recruited, all 116,564 nurses
were healthy women between the ages of 30 to 55. Twenty-four
years later, 8 percent of the nurses had died (10,282);
half from cancer, a fourth from cardiovascular disease
and the rest from other causes.
Researchers had never before attempted to study the
combined influence of weight and physical activity on
mortality in women. The Harvard nurses' biannual questionnaires
reporting their body weight and activity levels made
it possible to match lifestyle and death outcomes. The
results, published in the Dec. 23 issue of the New England
Journal of Medicine, provide one more incentive to lose
weight and boost activity.
The authors of the study concluded that both increased
body fat and reduced physical activity were strong and
independent predictors of death. "We estimate that
excess weight (Body Mass Index of 25 or higher) and
physical inactivity (less than 3.5 hours of exercise
per week) together account for 31 percent of all premature
deaths, 59 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease,
and 21 percent of deaths from cancer among nonsmoking
women."
Four subcategories of women emerged from the study
analysis: women who were lean and active, lean and inactive
(less than one hour per week of exercise), obese and
active (Body Mass Index of 30 or higher), and obese
and inactive. The risk of death was calculated for each
group. The lean and active group had the lowest risk
of death; the lean and inactive women had a 1.55 higher
risk of death; obese and active women a 1.91 higher
risk; and obese, inactive women had the highest risk
at 2.42 times the lean/active rate.
Even though higher activity levels appeared beneficial
in all body mass categories, they did not eliminate
the higher risk of death associated with obesity. Obese
groups had three times the death rate from cardiovascular
disease and a 65 percent increased risk of death from
cancer. Physically inactive groups had a 52 percent
increase in overall mortality, doubled cardiovascular
disease mortality, and 29 percent increase in cancer
mortality.
A study of this size and span should serve as a warning
for all of us. With two-thirds of our population overweight
or obese and the vast majority falling short of the
recommended activity guidelines, it is a reliable description
of the end result of our current lifestyle.
Check your Body Mass Index (www.bellbodies.com/ body_mass_index.php).
If your BMI is significantly over 25, ask your health
care professional to help you put together a plan for
weight loss. Then stand up. Standing burns twice the
calories per minute than sitting. And if you can move
while you stand, you will burn three times the calories
per minute. Ultimately aim for 30 minutes of motion
per day (or 3.5 hours of activity per week).
You may discover that this basic prescription for good
health may be one of the most important lessons you
have ever learned.
Source:www.rednova.com
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