Just standing up makes a difference, scientifically

This will be quick because I learned today, courtesy of a friend who has been reading the scientific literature on exercise and metabolic outcomes, that just standing up makes a difference in all of the health outcomes we are interested in.

There are a number of endocrine specialists, one of whom is James A. Levine at the Mayo Clinic, who have been studying NEAT, which stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. What they find is that, independent of the total amount of sedentary time, and independent of the amount of moderate-level exercise, the amount of time spent simply standing up, and the number of breaks from sitting to, for example, stand or take a step, predicts a host of important health indicators, including waist circumference and medical pre-cursors of diabetes. In fact, Levine asserts that NEAT matters more for obesity and metabolic health outcomes than organized vigorous exercise. No kidding. Check it out.

http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/levine_lab/

So this presents some really easy intervention opportunities, which Levine discusses on his website.

As for me, I will definitely not be retrieving any of my children's belongings from around the house for them anymore.

Cool. That feels like a little bit of magic. I'll be looking out for other ways to incorporate this knowledge into into our lifestyle.