There’s been a lot of discussion this week about a blog post on the Harvard Business Review website that claims “sitting is the smoking of our generation.” The author, Nilofer Merchant, cites some worrying statistics:

- Americans sit an average of 9.3 hours per day. (We only sleep 7.7 hours.)
- Obesity is responsible for 35 million deaths annually. (Tobacco is responsible for 3.5 million.)
- For each additional hour of television watched (while sitting) per day, the risk of death increased by 11 percent.

Those are some pretty scary statistics, but Merchant did give a suggestion as to how she’s changed her day to cut down on time at her desk or in meetings. She’s tried to make 3 to 4 of her meetings each week “walking meetings.” And through this she’s started walking an additional 20 to 3o miles (!) per week.

What do you think of walking meetings? Is it something you could try in your office? Get more tips for adding activity into your day.