NEAT

Here's a research study that is groundbreaking in many ways.  Researchers from the Mayo Clinic studied how much non-exercise activity people engaged in each day.  It is referred to as "NEAT", non-exercise activity thermogenesis.  The idea is to capture all non-structured activity: standing around, doing chores, walking from place to place, fidgeting, etc.

What they found was quite astonishing: obese individuals were seated 2.5 hours per day more than lean individuals.  The difference in this seated vs active time equals roughly 350 calories per day.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the obese sat around more because they were overweight and out of shape.  But the researchers tested this as well:  they overfed the lean participants to gain weight and underfed the obese to lose weight.  The result?  The lean kept moving and fidgeting while the obese still continued to sit more.

The researchers speculated that this may be a genetic difference between people (similar to that discussed in my post on active monkeys).  But the next question is, why has obesity skyrockted only in the last couple of decades?  Obesity was virtually non-existent a century ago, and our genetic makeup has not changed since then.  The researchers conclude that the modern world is now a "chair-enticing environment"(office jobs, tv, etc.), and that those with certain gentic tendencies will sit more if given the chance.

I agree with this, but only partially.  I think daily activity is more a matter of habit and momentum.  Some people are more naturally active, yes.  But if an inactive person starts moving around more each day, I think eventually they will get used to it and tend to stay that way.