The Globe and Mail’s Leslie Beck mused last week on the effects of our sedentary lifestyle. The American Institute for Cancer Research claims eating well, working out, and taking our vitamins is no longer enough to ward off the dreaded disease. Apparently, the more we sit, the more likely we are to get cancer.
While it’s not quite so cut and dry, the reasons are pretty simple. The institute cites waist circumference as a result of too much sitting.
This has been a measure of health for years, and is one of the more obvious signs of trouble. Other “key indicators” pointed out in Beck’s article are inflammation, and insulin resistance, which are also indicators of your chance of getting cancer.
From a student perspective, this is troubling. Assignments and essays require extended periods of sitting. Anyone who challenges that can feel free to stand at my kitchen table while they type my 3,000 word essay for me. Not only is it inconvenient not to sit while you work, it makes the work itself harder.
While it’s easy to label this finding as yet another cancer scare tactic, common sense dictates Beck and the institute are correct. It’s frustrating, though, because sitting has become, more than ever, a huge part of our lifestyle. Same goes for talking on cell phones, spending hours commuting in our vehicles, and heating that pre-packaged Kraft Dinner in the microwave. While these perks of modern living save us time, they are also rushing us towards the grave.
Instead of crying about the most recent finding in healthcare – and, presumably, sitting on my butt while I weep – I’ve decided to practice ways to ward off this particular cancer-causing curse of our modern world.
As I’m writing this column, and do other necessary scholarly tasks, I’ve been taking breaks every hour on the hour. I’ve been getting up, walking around, and drinking a full glass of water before I resume imprinting my body into the couch cushions and type away.
To be frank, it’s annoying. And it pisses me off that even after an hour and a half at the gym and a walk five hundred metres uphill to campus, I still need to move. But really, it’s not that hard.
