Your desk job is making you fat, study confirm

[Guest guest]

Your desk job is making you fat, study confirms

Study suggests why we're fatter when we eat fewer calories and exercise more

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39542759/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/#

Sitting at your desk all day may be helping to

add extra pounds around your waist, a new

study suggests.

" People eat better and exercise more today

than they did in the 1970s, yet obesity rates

continue to rise, " study researcher Carl-

Étienne Juneau, of the University of Montreal,

said in a statement. This seeming

contradiction might be explained by changes

in work habits, he said.

The study found adults took in fewer calories

in 2004 than they did in 1972, and leisure-

time physical activity rose over a similar time

period.

But people have become less active at work

over the last three decades, and this

decreased activity may partly explain the rise

in obesity, according to the researchers from

the University of Montreal.

The promotion of physical activity has largely

focused on leisure-time activities, the

researchers wrote in their study, but the

increase in leisure-time physical activity has

not curbed the obesity epidemic. These

findings may encourage people to turn their

attention to other opportunities for physical

activity, including their work time, they said.

To combat inactivity and a rise in obesity, an

integration of sports, work and transportation

is necessary, Juneau said. For example, it may

be more effective to exercise in smaller doses

throughout the day — like walking at break

time and taking the stairs — rather than trying

to find longer stretches of time to exercise.

Juneau also recommended group physical

education courses for adults to provide

***************************

Ralph Giarnella MD

Southington Ct. USA