Overweight? Maybe You Just Don't Fidget Enough, Researchers Say

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-sci-fidget28jan28.story
THE NATION
Overweight? Maybe You Just Don't Fidget Enough, Researchers Say
Pacing and wriggling during the day can determine whether one is lean, study concludes.
By Rosie Mestel
Times Staff Writer

January 28, 2005

The difference between being obese or lean may be due to how much a person is apt to stand, pace, wriggle and shift about over the course of a day, a team of scientists reported in an intensive study of the consequences of fidgeting.

The researchers, who published their findings today in the journal Science, also suggested the amount of these mundane daily movements may be genetically ingrained — and that this would explain why some people could get away with being slouches without gaining weight, whereas others, ostensibly no more lazy, became plump.

Although this means some people are more likely to become overweight in today's sedentary society, it does not mean they are fated to, said the study's principal investigator, Dr. James Levine, a consultant endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The extra energy burned by the fidgety, lean group was about 350 calories a day — well within the reach of most people. The extra calorie burn amounts to at least 10 pounds a year.<snip>

Levine said that instead of a desk and chair, his office is outfitted with a treadmill mounted with a computer.

The treadmill is set at a leisurely 0.7 mph, and he now types as he strolls.

"I used to sit … 10 hours a day," he said. "Now I'm walking 10 hours a day."

[tridim]

1. Wow, that article is about me.

It makes total sense. Ever since I took up the drums I've been a constant fidgeter. I've only gained about 5 pounds since age 16, and I was a skinny kid.

Edit: Funniest quote of the year.. :)

"Each participant wore a special, high-tech set of underwear, which were rigged with sensors and data loggers originally designed to monitor jet fighter motion. The underwear could track most body movements.

Fresh undergarments were supplied each day.

Data from the used underwear were downloaded each day to a computer."

[papau]

2. So weed and prozac make you fat because you stop fidgeting! :-)

That is what I will blame the last 100 lbs on!

[clydefrand]

3. My husband NEVER sits still and he eats far more calories than

I do and he isn't overweight! :-( Ain't fair. I need to learn to fidget. I hope chewing tough bubble gum is a start.

[HuckleB]

4. Hmm. People living with anorexia have known this for years.

Keep moving. Never sit back. Never relax. The fat, the muscle, everything just fades away into emaciation.

[Scout]

5. don't have a link

but I remember hearing about a similar study.

The disappointing thing was that it is very difficult to change from a non-fidgeter into a fidgeter and maintain the change for any great length of time. Also can't change a fidgeter into a non-fidgeter very easily and maintain the change.

Bummer...

[eridani]

6. You have no control over involuntary movement

A lot of this happens while you sleep.