Given that many people spend a lot of their waking hours at work, “your job certainly could be contributing to weight gain,” says Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise.
 In an ACE-commissioned study, researchers found a huge difference in the amount of physical activity people get in different professions. "There was almost a four-fold difference between the most active and the least active,” says lead author John Porcari.
In the study, the researchers got 98 workers in 10 different occupations to wear pedometers for three consecutive workdays.
After all the data was collected it was found that secretaries averaged 4,327 steps, less than half of the often-recommended goal of 10,000 steps a day. Teachers did 4,726 steps, lawyers 5,062 and police officers 5,336.
Mail carriers topped the list with 18,904 steps a day. Next came custodians with 12,991 steps, restaurant servers with 10,087 steps, factory workers with 9,892, construction workers with 9,646 and nurses with 8,648.
Porcari says most people could easily do an additional 2,000 steps after work with running errands or doing chores. Still, many people would come up short of their 10,000 steps. So for those people who fell well short of 10,000 steps a day such as secretaries, teachers, lawyers and police officers, it is important for them to make a concerted effort to get more physical activity outside of their job.
“When people are healthy, it's pretty well documented that healthcare costs are lower, sick days are fewer and productivity is greater,” says Porcari.
Source: American Council on Exercise (ACE)
To find out more about living a long, healthy, and happy life contact us!
Enter your email here for free updates!
|
|
