A great way to lose weight! British children stand in class to reduce waist size

Obese children have become a civilization disease. In order to help children lose weight, a primary school in the UK conducted a seven-week experiment, trying to let students stand in class, with an average of 5 hours of standing time each day. All classes, including math, English and computer classes, are attended while standing. We hope to conduct a comparison after the experiment to test whether standing in class can help lose weight.

American research shows that the main cause of childhood obesity is that most of the after-school time is spent watching TV or playing video games and lacks exercise.

A report by the UK Department of Health pointed out that the number of obese people in the UK is three times that of the previous generation. The main causes of childhood obesity are that they are transported to and from school by car, spend most of their spare time watching TV or playing video games, and lack exercise. If childhood obesity rates continue to rise, this generation of British children will die younger than their parents, so action to prevent obesity is necessary.

British experiment: Standing in class makes students more focused

According to Life Times, this British primary school named Grove House, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the first primary school in Europe to try to let students stand in class. The school said that after only two weeks of trial, great changes have been found. The children have become more focused and the atmosphere in the classroom has become more active because they feel more free in class and are more interested in the course content.

The participants in this experiment were students aged 9 to 10, and they had to stand in class for at least 230 minutes per week. They wore actigraphs on their hands to monitor physical activity, and devices on their legs to record whether they were standing or sitting. Their height, weight, blood pressure, waist circumference and fine motor skills were also recorded, and the results were compared at the end of the study.

If childhood obesity rates continue to rise, this generation of children may live shorter lives than their parents.

Standing in class can significantly reduce waist circumference

Barber, the lead researcher at the Bradford Research Institute who was responsible for the experiment, said that the study showed that standing in class can effectively prevent obesity. This method can burn students' extra fat and is particularly effective in reducing waist circumference. These students stand in class for an average of five hours a day, and the calories they burn are three times that of sitting in class.

A 2008 research report from the University of Missouri in the United States pointed out that if you sit for a long time, the enzyme responsible for burning fat in the muscles will be shut down, and the fat will be stored. Only when you stand up can the fat-decomposing enzyme be restarted. In addition, according to new research, office workers should not sit at their desks all day long, but should stand more often instead. John Buckley, a scientist at the University of Chester, said that standing for three hours a day can burn eight pounds, or about 3,600 grams of fat, in a year.

More standing can reduce the risk of death

Sitting too much will increase the risk of death. In March 2012, major Australian research results were also published, showing that sitting too long will increase the risk of death in just a few years. The study found that adults who sit for 11 hours or more a day have a 40% increased chance of death in the next three years compared to those who sit for less than 4 hours a day.