Even before the pandemic kept everyone at home, the average Canadian adult spent about 9.5 hours a day sitting. Since too much sitting time is linked to poor health and chronic conditions like diabetes, it’s a good idea to try to spend less time in a chair. However, be sure to cut down on the right type of sitting, because some types actually make people feel good.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Wuyou Sui of the University of Victoria and Harry Prapavessis of Western University explain that some types of sitting are better than others. Looking beyond the physical health effects of being sedentary, they also looked at people’s feelings about their own quality of life. It turns out, there’s a big difference between sitting down to socialize or play the piano, and sitting down to stare at a screen for hours. 

Also today:

All the best.

Patricia Nicholson

Health + Medicine Editor
Everyday environments and activities, from transportation to screen time to eating, are tailored nearly exclusively to prolonged sitting. (Canva/Unsplash/Pixabay)

Too much sitting is bad for you — but some types are better than others

Wuyou Sui, University of Victoria; Harry Prapavessis, Western University

Too much time sitting is linked to health risks, and also to lower quality of life. But in some contexts, such as reading, playing an instrument or socializing, sitting had positive associations.
In this September 2019 photo, a woman walks below a Google sign on the campus in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Google’s union of activists highlights the need for ethical engineering

Marcel O'Gorman, University of Waterloo

The new Alphabet Workers Union is making clear that changes must be put in place, both in education and on the job, to allow engineers to start taking responsibility for the social impact of their work.
With some kindergarten children now participating in online learning, questions persist about how they will learn the competencies needed to help them flourish both socially and academically. (Shutterstock)

6 ways to teach kindergarten kids to deal with stress during COVID-19, whether learning online or at school

Niluja Muralitharan, Brock University

Many kindergarten classrooms draw on six principles for helping children to manage the everyday stressors of life, and parents can too.
Hollywood movies have historically represented the tropics as lush green coasts but lurking underneath is disease and danger. (Warner Bros.)

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’: Monster movies evoke adventure but also ‘dangers’ of tropics

Priscilla Jolly, Concordia University

Hollywood movies have long leaned into colonial representations of the tropics: imagined as romantic palm-fringed coasts full of abundance, but also scary places full of pestilence and primitiveness.

La Conversation Canada
Sous leurs dehors appétissants, les oeufs et les lapins en chocolat sont en fait des aliments fermentés. Shutterstock

L’ingrédient secret qui donne si bon goût au chocolat : des microbes fermenteurs !

Caitlin Clark, Colorado State University

Après plusieurs tests, les chercheurs ont résolu de nombreux mystères concernant la fermentation du cacao et les micro-organismes qui donnent si bon goût au chocolat.
Les études réalisées après des catastrophes identifient certains facteurs de risque liés aux pensées suicidaires des jeunes. Shutterstock

Covid-19 et pensées suicidaires: comment repérer les jeunes à risque et quoi faire pour les aider

Eve Pouliot, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Danielle Maltais, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)

Les jeunes sont beaucoup moins à risque de mourir de la Covid-19, mais ils peuvent craindre pour leur santé ou celle de leurs proches, ce qui peut exacerber un état d’anxiété préexistant.

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