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Researcher sees future where people walk at work

USA Today

Wednesday 8 June 2005, 12:47 pm
Keywords: Computer Topics , News Articles

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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