Mark's Notebook

Researcher sees future where people walk at work

USA Today

By Steve Karnowski, Associated Press

"I hate going to the gym, which may be partly why I'm so interested in this," he said, keeping up a 1 mph pace on his treadmill while checking e-mail and fielding questions from a reporter.

That speed is slow enough to avoid breaking a sweat but fast enough to burn an extra 100 calories per hour, or 1,000 a day, given his average 10-hour workdays, Levine said.

"We're talking more than 50 pounds of weight loss a year, if I were to keep my diet the same," he said.

Levine is a leading researcher of NEAT (mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/levine_lab) — short for "non-exercise activity thermogenesis" — the calories people burn during everyday activities such as standing, walking or even fidgeting.

A recently published study he led showed that thin people are on their feet an average of 152 more minutes a day than couch potatoes. Levine was brainstorming ways to address that 2½-hour NEAT deficit a few months ago when he had the idea for the "ultimate office makeover."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-06-07-office-fit_x.htm?csp=34

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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009