Sitting or Standing: What Does Your Company Do?

Ran across this article in the San Francisco Chronicle that talks about companies adopting standing "policies" in their workplaces to reduce  sitting time.

The science is definitely solid for companies to create these type of work environments - reduction in chronic disease risk and overall higher productivity from employees.  This is great, along with other companies who stand in the meetings and pass around a medicine ball. If you have a workplace that sits a lot, this may be a good idea to increase workplace healthiness and productivity!

How Much Do You Need to Lose to Gain?

Are you trying to lose weight?  Maybe struggling to lose the goal amount of weight that you want to?  For health educators, there are plenty of individuals that you know who are also attempting to lose weight.  If the reason for this is to be "healthy" - meaning, they want to reduce their risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other diseases, what is the magical body weight that reduces these risks?  Well, it may be a bit easier than you think.

My professors always told us that if America would lose 10% of it's weight, we would be much healthier and reduce the risk of a handful of diseases.  Research presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention reaffirms this. They found drastic reductions in risk for type 2 diabetes (58%) for people who had lost an average of 14 pounds.  They go on to conclude that for overweight or obese individuals, just a 10% reduction in weight  have been shown to have long term impact on sleep apnea, hypertension, qaulity of life, and a slow in the decline of mobility as they age.

So don't be stressed about losing "half your body weight" (such as the show "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" aims to achieve), modest amounts can have a huge impact on your future.

Turns out that my professors knew a thing or two about health!

Cheers to making big improvements in our health with small steps!

A Better Measurement than BMI

I think we all know the fallacies of BMI: it doesn't take into account frame size or muscular mass so it gives a skewed result when someone has larger amounts of lean muscle mass.  It was originally developed by insurance companies to categorize people for disease risk, and in my opinion, that isn't where these measurements come from.  Unfortunately, many health organizations still use it, simply for the fact that an easier calculation doesn't exist.  Most often times, however, when BMI is used outside of the insurance industry, it takes the weight of a grain of salt.  Still, there needs to be a better, and still quick measurement to give people an accurate estimation of disease risk.

That's where the ABSI comes in.  Developed recently and published on PLoS ONE, the calculation looks like this:

ABSI = (Waist Circumference) / ( (BMI)^(2/3) (Height)^(1/2) )

Sorry about the poor representation of the formula, it's easier to understand by following the link.  Here's an online calculator.  Basically, the formula is a beefed up version of BMI, but takes waist circumference into account.  Waist circumference helps the formula take into account visceral fat (note the waist to hip ratio) - aiding in the prediction of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other mortality risks.

 This is still a very new measurement, so it still needs to undergo the rigorous tests of the scientific community before it gets the seal of approval, but it does hold some promise.  I'll keep an eye on this one to see how it trends.