Killing Me Softly With This Desk Job
Office Space, “A comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss,” says IMDb.com. The movie is a classic but let’s look at one portion of the synopsis, “company workers who hate their jobs.” The characters in the movie indeed hate their jobs but what if deep down they hated it because they knew that is was slowly killing them? Interesting is it not? The characters are portrayed as stressed out, crazed, and manic yet it’s done with a sense of humor. All jokes aside, my career behind a desk has spanned over 13 years and the stress is real. There are many health risks that come from sitting for long hours but you don’t have to take my word for it. Could sitting at my desk job be killing me softly?
According to CNN on a feature for Health.com, “Studies suggest that sitting for hours on end is harmful, regardless of a person's overall calorie intake or physical activity.” How much more harmful can it be to our bodies? We’re just sitting there, right? In no way are we lifting anything heavy so what could go wrong? Within the same article featured on CNN,
“extended daily TV watching and time on the computer--which, like desk jobs, involve long periods of time sitting still--have been linked to a greater risk of metabolic syndrome, a constellation of health problems that can lead to diabetes and heart disease.”
The studies linking desk jobs or sitting for that matter and health problems are staggering. MSNBC featured an article by Men’s Health saying, “A 2006 University of Minnesota study found that from 1980 to 2000, the percentage of people who reported exercising regularly remained the same—but the amount of time people spent sitting rose by 8 percent.” So it appears that people are exercising but it doesn’t do a lot of good if we continue to sit on our rears. Now if that wasn’t enough, sitting for long periods can also affect our posture.
“For instance, if you spend a lot of time with your shoulders and upper back slumped over a keyboard, this eventually becomes your normal posture,” says Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a Men's Health advisor and physical therapist in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hartman continued to say, "That's not just an issue in terms of how you look; it frequently leads to chronic neck and shoulder pain,"
Still want a cozy desk job? A desk job may seem like the way to go but if you fall into the land of inactivity then you may experience some health issues. Below is an infographic featured on Mashable.com, which shows the risks and what can be done to combat them.
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