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A combined computer, desk and treadmill could keep office workers moving all day.

(JIM MONE/The Associated Press)

Suggestion: If you're sitting as you read this, stand.

A large study published in the journal Preventive Medicine found that adults who spend more time moving that sitting have more favorable levels of triglycerides and insulin – important markers of health -- than those who are more sedentary than they are active.

That even holds true, researchers found, for people who get the 30 minutes daily of moderate to vigorous exercise that health experts recommend. If they exercise and then sit all day, they may still risk developing chronic disease.

The bottom line: Log more minutes up than you do down.

"These findings demonstrate the importance of minimizing sedentary activities and replacing some of them with light-intensity activities, such as pacing back and forth when on the phone, standing at your desk periodically instead of sitting, and having walking meetings instead of sit-down meetings," said Paul Loprinzi. The study's lead author, Loprinzi is an assistant professor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., and a graduate of Portland State University and Oregon State University.

GET MOVING

Bradley Cardinal’s suggestions for fitting light physical activity into your day:

• Go on a leisurely bicycle ride, at about 5-6 miles an hour;

• Use a Wii Fit program that requires a light effort, like yoga or balancing;

• Do some mild calisthenics or stretching;

• If you want to watch television, do it sitting on a physioball;

• Play a musical instrument;

• Work in the garden.

For the study, co-authored by OSU's Bradley Cardinal and Hyo Lee, a former OSU doctoral student, researchers examined activity patterns of more than 5,500 adults through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants wore accelerometers – devices that measure acceleration.

Among those studied, 47.2 percent engaged in behaviors that could use some improvement:

** They got less than 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

** They logged fewer minutes of light physical activity than of sedentary behavior.

Cardinal, co-director of OSU's Sport and Exercise Psychology Program, calls the number "frightening."

"About half of the people in this country," he said, "are incredibly sedentary – basically, couch potatoes. And that can have some very negative effects on one's health."

While results varied with age, fitness level and other factors, researchers found that triglyceride and insulin levels generally improved among those who were active more minutes of the day than they were inactive.

"Even everyday home activities like sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, doing dishes, watering the plants, or carrying out the trash have some benefits," Cardinal said.

"Remember, it's making sure you're moving more than you're sitting that's the key."

-- Katy Muldoon