Fidgeting can help you live longer

Keep twiddling those thumbs – fidgeting is good for your health, according to a new study. This is the first study of its kind to reveal the benefits fidgeting may have as a means to combat the negative effects of sitting. Data was examined from the University of Leeds’ UK Women’s Cohort Study. The findings suggest that work colleagues who are constantly tapping their feet might be encouraged to carry on rather than urged to stop, and that teachers might want to rethink their advice to similarly lively school children.

An ever-growing body of research is showing that being sedentary and sitting for long periods of time are linked to poor health consequences, including a laundry list of risks for conditions ranging from obesity to heart disease. Cade divided the 12,778 women into three groups, namely low, middle and high fidgeters.

The United Kingdom researchers while studying the effects of long hours of sitting on people found out that even something as little as shifting in your chair or drumming your fingers can actually turn out to be healthy for you.

The results, which factored in the variables listed above, showed that those who sat for seven hours or more a day had a 30 percent increase in all-cause mortality in those who considered themselves in the low fidgeting group. “It might be a good thing to fidget”.

But Cade said the link is worth looking into. It is possible, she said, that fidgeting might alter physiological processes even when the activity level is far below that of more conventional exercise.

The study from the University of Leeds and University College London in the United Kingdom found that the increased risk of mortality associated with prolonged sitting was more prevalent in people who were better at sitting still.

Small, repetitive movements may help fight off the adverse health impacts of sitting for long periods, says a report published Wednesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The Study gathered information on a wide range of eating patterns of almost 13,000 women aged 37 to 78 who also provided data on their average daily sitting time, overall fidgeting, physical activity, smoking status and alcohol consumption.