The dangers of sitting 久坐对健康的危害
 

　　有些成年人一天有超过九小时都处于坐着不动的状态，这样的生活方式对我们的身体有什么影响？本期 “随身英语” 探讨久坐对健康的危害。
 

　　词汇：lifestyle and health 生活方式与健康

Did you know many adults sit down for more than nine hours a day – maybe you're one of them! Whether it's working at a desk, sitting motionless in a car, bus or train or lounging on the sofa watching TV, we have a much more sedentary lifestyle than our parents and grandparents did. The question that this raises is just what is it doing to our bodies?

　　The news isn't good. A study carried out in the 1950s compared bus drivers with the conductors, who walked around the bus selling tickets. It showed that drivers, who spent many hours sat at the wheel, were twice as likely to have heart attacks than the more active conductors. In fact, prolonged sitting has been associated with a number of different conditions, even in people who otherwise take regular exercise. If you sit down all day, you burn far fewer calories than someone with a more active job. There are suggestions that it slows your metabolism and makes it harder for your body to regulate blood sugar levels, increasing the risk of diabetes.

　　One possible answer to this problem is for desk workers to use standing desks, to spend at least part of their day on their feet. One small study showed that office workers who stood for three hours after lunch had a much smaller increase in blood sugar levels, while another suggested that by standing for three or four hours a day over the period of a year, people would burn as many calories as if they had run ten marathons.

　　Other experts question this figure and point out that standing all day can also have negative impacts, such as leg or back pain, recommending that if people do want to use standing desks, they should gradually increase the amount of time that they spend on their feet. Crucially, they also point out that there are many alternatives to sitting, and that their impact is unlikely to be the same: walking, for example, burns far more calories than standing.

　　词汇表

　　sit down 坐下，坐着

　　motionless 静止不动的

　　lounge 休息，闲散地坐着

　　sedentary lifestyle 缺乏运动的生活方式

　　sit at the wheel 坐在方向盘前，驾车

　　heart attack 心脏病发作

　　prolonged sitting 久坐

　　burn calories 消耗热量

　　active 身体活动的，经常运动的

　　metabolism 新陈代谢

　　regulate blood sugar levels 调节血糖水平

　　diabetes 糖尿病

　　desk worker 伏案工作者

　　standing desk 站立式办公桌

　　on someone's feet 站着

　　stand 站立，站着

　　walking 走路，步行