Sitting is the new smoking

We all know that smoking is bad for you.  I've heard it said that sitting is the new smoking. We are finding out how unhealthy a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle is - it is one of the main contributing factors to teens being overweight and obese.  A study in NSW found that students in Year 8 spent 41 hours of their spare time engaged in sedentary activities.  This increases to 45 hours in year 10.  Add to that all the time you sit in class at school and that's a lot of physical inactivity.  You can find out more at www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au. Try to squeeze in periods of physical activity during the day such as walking or riding your bike to school, play basketball in your lunch break, find a set of stairs and walk up and down them a few times, do some exercises while you watch TV, join a sporting team...