Protecting Health ThroughFidgeting

B Y D E R R I C K A L G E R

In this day and age, we do alot of sitting. If you are one ofthe millions of Americans withan office job, you are sittingfor several hours throughoutthe day. However, office jobsare not the only culprit. Those

who travel for extendedperiods of time are forced toremain seated on airplanes.

Those who enjoy watchingtelevision may find themselvesstarting a Netflix show then,hours later, being riveted in

the same position.

A couple years back,evidence was uncoveredconcerning the harmful

effects of sitting. Remainingseated was found to increase

risk of heart disease anddiabetes. This new

information brought on astanding desk craze, however,

it has been found thatoverusing standing desks isalso not good for health.

So, what is good for yourhealth? A recently publishedstudy found that fidgetingwhile seated may be your

best bet.

One of the immediatedangers of sitting for

extended periods of timeconcern the arteries in the

leg. Sitting restricts theamount of blood flowing to

the legs, which heightens riskof cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the Universityof Missouri wanted to know if

there was a way to offsetthose negative effects when

standing is not an option.Their reasoning was that

fidgeting would encourageincreased blood flow in the

leg. They did not expect it tocompletely solve the arterialproblem, but they hoped it

would at least help.

The researchers tested theleg vascular function of 11

men and women. The subjectswere made to sit for three

hours. Each participant keptone leg still throughout the

entire study, and tapped theother one at specified

intervals.

The subjects averaged about250 foot movements per

minute. At the conclusion ofthree hours, researchersmeasured the amount ofblood flow in each leg of

each subject.

Sure enough, this fidgetingincreased blood flow in thelegs significantly, to a pointwhere it could help stave offcardiovascular disease. Toetapping was indeed enoughto increase vascular health.

This is groundbreakinginformation in a society inwhich, a lot of the time,people do not have the

option to take breaks to standup continuously during a long

period of sitting.

The researchers want to makeit clear, however, that

fidgeting should not be usedas a substitute for standingand walking around when

breaks can be taken. Walkingor standing has more overallcardiovascular benefits, andis therefore better for you in

the long run. However,fidgeting is a good alternativein situations in which standingis not permitted. As they say,

any sort of movement is betterthan none at all.