 Is sitting down dangerous? With all this talk on risk bites about, well, risks, you might be tempted to snuggle down into the safety of your sofa and simply avoid all the bad stuff out there. But is sitting around more dangerous than you think? It's a sad fact of life that everything we do, including the things we decide not to do, has consequences. But there's mounting evidence that prolonged periods of physical inactivity are not good for us. In 2011, researchers examined a large group of subjects and found that sedentary behavior, sitting around in other words, was associated with a whole host of undesirable effects. These included increased waste circumference, elevated cholesterol and blood sugar levels and early markers for heart disease. Like deal, you might say. Tell me something I don't know. Well how about this? These trends were independent of the subjects' exercise levels. In other words, even following a regular exercise routine may not counter the effects of excessive sitting. A bummer in more ways than one. So what's the solution? The answer may be as simple as taking a stand, quite literally. Human studies have identified a number of positive effects associated with intermittent breaks in sedentary activity. For instance, it seems that simply standing for a few minutes every half an hour or so may reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease by stimulating your metabolism. And while regular cardio sessions are important, low to medium levels of physical activity such as walking or doing household chores have also been associated with similar health benefits. There are plenty of obvious risks we need to navigate around each day, but there's increasing evidence that our year-round habit of sitting on our backsides may be a riskier proposition than we'd ever thought. So don't forget to stretch your legs and tune in next week for another Risk Bite.