WARM BY NATURE
A TOWNSVILLE researcher has found nearly three quarters of office workers believed there was a negative relationship between sitting down all day at work and their health.
James Cook University PhD candidate and exercise science lecturer Teneale McGuckin surveyed 140 office workers.
“One hundred people said that more sitting time worsened their health,” she said. “Back complaints were the most common worry, then neck aches and loss of muscle tone. “People also talked about weight gain and that sitting down all day reduced their motivation.”
Ms McGuckin said that science supported the view that sitting was bad for you.
“Increased sitting time has been associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease,” she said.
“Links to weight gain, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and breathing difficulties, have also been identified.”
Ms McGuckin said focus groups said management needed to be involved in the solution. FUN IN THE SUN: Grace Cole, 19, of Jensen, plays volleyball on The Strand with friend Tyla Jones, 19, of Bushland Beach, yesterday. NEW research has proved growing up in North Queensland makes you a more positive and social person.
Research published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal this week found that growing up in “pleasantly warm temperatures” may be related to positive personality traits. Scientists found people living in regions with average temperatures of about 22C tended to score highly on factors such as agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability.
The study also found you would be more likely to be extroverted and open to new experiences.
If the study proves to be true, it would mean North Queenslanders would be more positive and social people compared with those from Sydney or Melbourne.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay have mean annual temperatures of 21C to 24C.
Townsville has about 320 sunny days each year.
The study’s researchers said warmer weather encouraged people to explore their environment and engage socially.
“These findings are consistent with our temperature clemency perspective of personality: growing up in temperatures that are close to the psychophysiological comfort optimum encourages individuals to explore the outside environment, thereby influencing personalities,” they in the their wrote paper. “This proposition is rooted in the fact that, as warm- blooded species, humans have the existential need for thermal comfort.”
Temperatures will be about 30C in the North for the rest of the week, with showers and storms expected over the coming days.
Brisbane is forecast for a wet end to the week with a top of about 28C.