Today, my real role is to persuade you that the chair you are sitting on
is a "fatal chair"!
And that chair is not a dear friend but a bitter enemy.
It differes!
I want to take you with me in a journey to Australia!
Who wants to go? Everyone, I know.
I have spent seven years in this college in Australia.
But let me tell you what happened in my first two months in the college.
This is my office.
If I wanted to print a paper I order a print
then I have to leave the office
get out from the building
go to another building
in that building there's a room for copying and printing
I take the paper and go back to my office grouchy!
Why don't I have a printer? I'm a PhD student!
I'm a scholar! I want a print!
It's impossible! This is a poor college!
You know when a Saudi gets angry!
Instantly, I send a letter to the boss,
that I want a printer!
There're 5 Australian PhD students with me,
didn't have any problem with that!
They said to me, "Muhamed, this is good for your health!"
You're making an effort, by leaving the chair.
I replied, "No talk for health
tell me how to get a printer!
I want a printer!"
They brought me a printer, I was happy.
but after a while
I had pains in my lower back due to sitting for long periods
and I didn't figure out
that the real cause was the chair!
Firstly, we all know the danger of drugs
secondly, smoking.
thirdly, alcohol.
fourth, the chair you're sitting on it right now!
before and then and all the time.
We're sitting every where.
If we follow the steps of the cave man
passing by the agrarian age then the industrial age
Man never sit down
Man never sit except in the present time.
The time of computer, Internet, and mobile phone.
So we're sitting now everywhere.
Smoking isn't the unhealthiest thing anymore.
It's sitting which becomes more dangerous.
yes, It's said that sitting for too long
is the new smoking of our era.
Disaster! Why?
Because there are many diseases linked to sitting.
That's its name.
Medically, it's called sitting disease.
Heart diseases, osteoporosis, obesity, early death
Diabetes, high blood pressure.
Shall I keep counting?
There is more than thirty or forty diseases linked to sitting.
I can't tell you all of them otherwise I'll stay till the day ends.
Now if we have a dinner tonight a fatty dinner.
Fats and sugars.
Something like the open buffet.
Are we going to be fat tomorrow?
Of course not, we won't be obese.
But if we live on this bad dietary behavior
for everyday for year, two years, three... ten years.
Of course we'll be fat because of that behavior.
Same thing with sitting.
If we sit for twenty four hours on a chair
We won't be ill with those diseases.
But if that becomes our behavior
sitting everyday
for a year, two years, three, five, ten years
of course we'll be ill, at least one disease of sitting diseases.
We shouldn't accept that.
It's been ten years, since we got to world cup of football.
Right?
Saudi Arabia Kingdom is the third globally in physical inactivity
This is a report by Lancet magazine one of the famous medical magazines.
Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia comes first in high BP, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis.
These diseases.. what we call them?
Sitting diseases.
We sit in home, college, car and in school.
Even in playground, 22 players watched by 60,000 spectators!
Beside that millions of spectators watching the TV.
Watching but not practicing!
What a kind of world!
The scientific recommendation
which I keep repeating for 20 years twenty years.
This scientific recommendation says
everybody should practice an activity for 30 minutes to prevent heart diseases.
In fact, the situation changed.
2 or 3 years ago, scientific studies claimed that 30 mins. isn't enough
for prevention of heart diseases
The real question is what are you doing all the day?
30 minutes and then sit all the day! No
If we spend our time sitting in front of TV
on the internet
using electronic devices
then it doesn't matter if you exercise or not.
You're liable for heart diseases, and this's a disaster.
Do you think that only ordinary people are physically inactive?
Indeed not.
This's a study that we've made about football players
of one of Riyadh capital's clubs.
which was published in an international meeting in Santiago - America.
To figure the percentage of players' physical inactivity
77% of them were inactive spending the rest of the day
watching TV, on the Internet, using mobiles, playing video games.
So physical inactivity is common among people and players which is a problem.
"Doctor you've terrified us" you said.
In fact we must be.
But the good news is the solution is very easy.
The solution needs a simple change in our lives.
There's a rule which I call "Active and healthy life" rule.
Changing our behavior
8+1+15 equals?
24
what do I mean by 24?
24 hours, all of us have 24 hours
even you who points 23 not 24, it's 24.
Let's calculate it - I was kidding with him - let's divide the 24 hours
8 hours for sleep at night at night not the morning
8 hours is a healthy behavior not laziness
one hour for physical activity
any physical activity walking, jogging, biking, swimming
any activity that you like and practicing it everyday
is perfect.
For the rest of the day, the rest of the 24 hours. we've got 15hrs, what to do?
This is the active behavior in life.
You should shorten time of sitting.
you should shorten the time of sitting
by shorting the time spent on Internet mobile, video games.
We should increase the everyday physical activity in our lives.
Like: going upstairs, walking to masjid walking in the college, walking in school
housework, house business specially this part is perfect.
Cleaning the floor, walls the kitchen, working on house garden.
These things need a very high energy and is so important.
We should stop focusing on this area.
This part isn't made for sitting on it.
We must shift our focus from this upper square to... the lower one.
We must use the feet.
Physiologically and anatomically
God's created feet for walk, movement, and standing.
Brothers and sisters, physical inactivity is a behavior.
Smoking kid'll be a smoker in the future.
Obese child'll be an obese man when he grow up.
Same thing with physical inactivity.
Inactive kid who sits all the time
will be inactive adult who sits for too long in the future.
We must change our life and our environment.
Active environment helps us.
At homes, schools, universities, work places and everywhere.
We must change these environments.
How?
These are some western examples.
Some people get rid of round tables
and replaced them by walk and talk meetings.
Why?
Innovation, creativity, making right decision
all are better while walking not sitting.
Scientific proof?
I'll give one.
Now, on the left an image of brain after a period of sitting.
Now, let's compare it to a brain image after walking for 20 minutes.
Look at green, red and yellow areas.
This is an evidence of increased brain cells' activity.
So, creativity and making the right decisions happening during walking
are better than those while sitting.
Exams are soon, who wants to study should study walking or you'll sleep sitting.
I recommend that.
Some people have got rid of classic desks which we called " inactive desks"
what you see here is an active desk.
Conveyor belt attached to a desk with a computer
which enables the person to sit for 8 hrs through slow walking.
Also, there is a fixed bicycle attached to this active desk.
Some schools, have got rid of chairs and replaced them by medical balls
These balls require balance.
That balance make most of back, abdominal and feet muscles do efforts all the time
This is a library where they've replaced chairs with medical balls.
Moreover, there're schools in west have no chairs at all.
Schools with no chairs at all.
Students are taking their lessons standing on feet.
These students are young.
Now, it's you're turn.
This is you're turn.
If scientific studies couldn't convince you...
Can I ask everybody, now, men and women to stand up, please?
To stand for the rest of the talk and you'll feel the difference.
I ask you to stand, please. All of you, yes all of you.
Best scene I saw in my life, not sure how many of you here as I can't see everything
God blesses.
Well, I've given you western examples till now.
Can we Saudi people change our traits?
Who is it in pictures?
This is Saudi man. Me wearing headband to prove that I'm Saudi and I can change.
This is my office in King's Saud university with no chair
even my lectures, I give them standing.
(Applause)
My students listening to me in the standing position.
If they were here, they would prove me true.
This is my desk at home.
Of course there is no chair, only the conveyor belt.
Now, I'm working 8 hrs with a speed less than 2 km\hr.
I am an active man.
This is my desk at home and this conveyor belt cost me less than 1000 Rial.
A simple change makes me active.
(Applause)
My youngest daughter, 1st grade, insisted
to come to prove to everybody that she can get rid of the fatal chair
and that she can use computer on foot, too.
(Applause)
We always wonder, why some people
- some inactive people - eat more but never get obese?
someone always eat at night but still thin while if I smell the food I gain weight?
What makes them thin without any physical activity?
Science magazine, one of the best medical journal in the world,answers this question
as they searched for a group of a very lazy people
divided them into 2 groups obese group, which is normal result.
Physical inactivity leads to obesity.
But what is abnormal is the second group.
Non-obese thin people
who are very inactive.
Valued their daily physical activity every movement.
For ten consecutive days with precise devices.
Here is the result, in front of you.
Sitting time, and standing time sitting in white and standing green
Note that obese sit more.
But non-obese stands more like you now.
Well, then what they've done?
They measured the difference in energy between obese and non-obese.
They found that 352 calories were consumed by standing.
Is this considered as high or low energy?
Let's convert it to physical activity.
These 352 calories equals 42 minutes of running a day,
or 72 minutes walking i.e one hour and 12 minutes.
The study concluded that
Standing energy makes the skinny, skinny.
I always wonder - This question puzzles me.
Why is domestic worker skinny comparing to anyone else?
Not only women but men, as well.
For example, the driver comparing to his employer -
Somethings have progressed and others regressed which makes me out of my mind.
Obesity is omnipresent.
Finally, I want to remind you and myself about " Healthy active behavior rule"
Yes he can change, yes she can change.
Yes, we all can change our behavior from laziness to active
and apply the "Healthy and active life rule",
8 hours sleep, one hour of physical activity, 15 hours doing some active work
Thank you, Thanks TEDxRiyadh.
(Applause)