Get Up. Stand Up. Stand Up For Your Health

If sitting is the new smoking, is standing the healthful alternative? The Boston Globe reports that many experts think it is. The Globe cites a recent Harvard study of more than 92,000 women that found that the more time participants spent sitting at work, driving, or watching TV, the greater their risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, or strokes. Wait, there’s more, such as a Canadian study involving 17,000 people that found that those who reported the most time standing had a 33 percent lower risk of dying from any cause over 12 years compared to those who stood the least. That study also found that people who exercised at least two hours each week got the same life-extending benefits as those who stood the most. The Globe reports that “the Harvard researchers, on the other hand, found in their study that regular exercise didn’t erase the increased death risk associated with prolonged sitting.” How healthful is standing, exactly? The Globe reports that standing in one place is equivalent to 1.3 MET compared to 1 MET for sitting, and that walking at a 3 mile-per-hour pace is a 3.3 MET activity, while jogging is a 7 MET, which means it burns 7 times the energy than the body at rest.