A new effort is calling on people to ask themselves how much time they spend sitting – and what it means for their health.
Excessive sitters can lose hours off their life, and people spend an average of nine to 11 hours sitting each day. That’s according to Northern Illinois University graduate student Sharon Moskowitz.
She's started a program at the university, called “Sitting is the New Smoking,” to promote physical wellness and staying active.
Moskowitz travels to different departments to facilitate an open discussion of sitting habits and what people can improve in their daily routines.
Examples include standing while waiting at the doctor’s office, parking farther away and walking to school or work, or creating a standing desk at home or work.
She says will power has been the key to positive lifestyle changes.
“I think the success is really come in through the fact that people are really responding to this call to action," she said, "which I think is much more of a testament to everyone’s willingness to take their own health and wellness responsibly, rather than putting it on someone else and saying, ‘I can’t change.’”
Moskowitz says she ultimately wants to instill confidence in people through the campaign.
“The problem is I think people go to work and think that they don’t have an option. ‘I have to go to work. I have to sit down for eight hours a day,’” she said. “But, giving you a different option – giving you an alternative way of thinking, and just saying, ‘Hey, it’s not a death sentence. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence.’ And allowing people to just think differently – that’s the goal.”
Moskowitz is holding workshops for “Sitting is the New Smoking” through April.