Just when I was about to give up on a topic for today’s article, I discovered another “STUDY” that has just been published in that prestigious publication that doctors read, JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. It turns out that we sat an hour a day longer in 2016 than we did nine years earlier in 2007, and it’s all the fault of our computers.
The Wall Street Journal reported this astounding fact in an article headlined: Americans Are Sitting More and We Have Computers to Blame. Yes it’s all the computer’s fault. And the study shows that this phenomenon runs across all age groups, genders, ethnic groups, and any other differentiating factor among people. Wow, we’re all victims of “computer sitting syndrome” (I just made that up), and it’s the computer’s fault. That’s what the study said. Really.
This study (remember this was published in JAMA and doctor’s read it as gospel) did suggest that there were some important limitations, according to the Wall Street Journal article. For example,the new study didn’t seem to cover cell phone use and didn’t “capture how many people lay in their beds on their phones”. Really. It said that.
The WSJ article quoted a cardiologist and chair of one of the Leadership Councils of the American College of Cardiology, as saying: “There’s still an opportunity here. Any exercise is better than no exercise, and daily exercise is still the best exercise.” Wow! What a revelation. Did the American College of Cardiology finally figure that out? Good for them. It’s important because doctors read this stuff (JAMA, not this blog — if doctor’s had been reading my articles, they would have known that a long time ago and I would be famous).
This article is a bit facetious in tone. That’s because I’m trying to outdo a friend of mine who has started a new blog that you might enjoy reading. It’s pretty much a bunch of random thoughts somewhat more facetious than this. I thought I’d give it a plug. You can find it athttps://notesfromtheroomofwonder.com/.
Anyhow, no matter how many studies come out with the message that we sit too much, I’m sure we are all very much aware of it. We also know what to do about it. Just like the genius from the Cardiology College suggested: “Any exercise is better than no exercise.” See, I’ve been right all along. And I’m still not famous — yet.
So, the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t sit so much and should exercise more. If you’re going to be on your cell phone, you shouldn’t be laying in your bed. Instead you should be getting exercise by walking down the street with your head down and buried in your phone. If you get run over by a truck, you can always blame your computer.
Thank you for reading.