Get Up! Stand Up

One quarter of Kiwis are now considered obese, that’s over a million of us scoffing our way to early preventable deaths. It’s of course not just how we eat; it’s our lifestyles as a whole and the levels of inactivity in all aspects of how we approach living.

Obesity joins the usual suspects of health hazards that fall into the “trapezium of death” statistic; a 1 in 4 chance of ending your time on the planet prematurely. This makes me nervous in terms of having another child, at the moment there are only three of us in the room at any given time so we’re all safe from falling foul of this statistic. If we have another kid, one of us has an increased probability of dropping dead the moment we’re all sitting down for a family meal.

Despite innovations in our workplaces around space and product design, we still spend a fair amount of time sitting down, whether it’s at the computer, commuting, meetings, presentations etc. Our corporate horizons are beleaguered with subcutaneous lipids and early preventable death markers; we’re in danger of becoming a Donald Frump working in Cellulite Valley.

In addition to our protruding belly buttons, there is emerging thought suggesting that sitting is becoming the new smoking. Blech! I pride myself on being a non-smoker (no judgement to those that do though) and I find this quite startling. I wouldn’t consciously take up smoking cigarettes, however I unconsciously spend lengthy sessions of time sitting while completing tasks, probably more time than I spend sleeping.

Exercise alone is not sufficient to combat the duration of time our muscles spend in a state of inactivity, now more than ever it’s vital that we take this seriously and engage in healthier ways of conducting our day to day living. It’s heart attack serious! Try “Krumping” during phone calls, or interpretive dance your way through all your presentations. Whatever it is you decide to do, make sure you intersperse seated work with some sort of meaningful movement, it’s possible that your life depends on it.

Don’t be lulled into a thin sense of stroke avoidance, while you may not be exhibiting outward signs of an imminent health decline, you can still be internally obese. Meaning that it’s not just the obvious overweight among us that need to take heed, the slight of stature must stay vigilant to their well-being.

Check out this talk by Nilofer Merchant at TED; it’s on topic and touches on some arresting statistics. As a conductor of what she describes as “walk and talk” meetings, she highlights how you don’t have to compromise health and obligations; they can occupy the same space at the same time.