Often you have seen people moving their feet for no reason or moving restlessly while sitting.
When we were children, there are few of us who were not reprimanded by our teachers and parents for rocking the chair, running around, breaking the rubber with a pencil unnecessarily or ticking a ball point.
The reason for this rebuke was not for not paying attention to studies. Perhaps the adults felt that by doing this we were attracting negative attention from others.
In English, this gratuitous movement is called ‘fidgeting’. Now old ideas about fidgeting need to be reconsidered because new research shows that it can help us maintain weight, reduce stress and potentially extend our lives. That is, it can be a positive behavior for human survival.
“If you sit still, it’s not good for you,” says Janet Cade, a nutritionist at the University of Leeds. But if you sit in one place suffering from restlessness, it can reduce the health risks.
What is fidgeting?
It’s thought to mean anxiety and stress, but James Levine, president of the Epson Foundation and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, says it’s the rhythmic movement of a specific body part that your brain controls. .
But Dr Sameer Parekh, Chairman of the National Mental Health Program of Fortis Healthcare, has a different opinion. According to him, it is wrong to categorize fidgeting as good or bad.
He said that in some cases fidgeting affects performance and increases the chance of error.
According to Dr. Parekh, it can also be a symptom of a physical illness.
“Fidgeting may be beneficial for some people, but there is no consensus on whether it is beneficial for you or a symptom of an illness,” he says.
Dr. Rukhsheeda Saida, a Mumbai-based psychologist, disagrees with this research regarding fidgeting.
He said that children who do not get time to play or have insufficient space to play, their activities are included in the category of fiddling.
According to them, fidgeting can be divided into several parts. One could be your normal habit. But there is also a possibility that you may be suffering from an illness and it is also possible that your fidgeting is beneficial. So it is not correct to call it a useless habit.
Fight obesity with fidgeting
Since 1975, the number of people affected by obesity has tripled worldwide. One of the reasons for this is the way we work.
During work, we sit in a chair for hours due to which our body’s metabolism, i.e. the ability to digest food, slows down. This affects our body’s ability to control blood sugar and blood pressure. It also creates obstacles in reducing the fat in our body.
But now there’s evidence that fidgeting can help with weight loss because it encourages us to move instead of sitting still.
James Levine says research has shown that thin people who work in offices have more fidgeting and anxiety. Compared to fat people, thin people stand longer in the office and get up from their seats for about two hours a day.
They say that a simple habit like fidgeting can help our body use up extra energy.
A limited study looked at how 24 people used up their extra energy by fidgeting. It found that those who fidget burned 29 percent more calories than their body, indicating that fidgeting helps maintain energy balance in the body. However, it is not a substitute for exercise to keep yourself fit.
According to some experts, besides reducing obesity, fidgeting can also be beneficial for our brain.
According to Dr. Saida, fidgeting can reduce obesity, but probably no doctor would advise you to do so.
“There is a big difference between fidgeting and other physical movements and we should have no doubt that fidgeting cannot be a substitute for exercise,” he said.
Can Fidgeting Lead to Longer Life?
Although there is no confirmed evidence yet that fidgeting can make you live longer, experts believe that constant stress can shorten our lifespan.
According to experts, sitting still doubles your risk of heart disease. It also increases the risk of diabetes, obesity, depression and anxiety. Meanwhile, fidgeting helps reduce our stress.
A study was conducted in which 42 people were placed under stress. They were put in a situation similar to a job interview and were then given tasks in front of two people.
The study found that people who engaged in impulsive behavior—those who scratched their lips, bit their lips, or repeatedly touched their faces—were able to keep their stress levels low.
Fidgeting can also help reduce the risks that sitting for long periods of time poses to the body.
Research has found that moving your legs while sitting protects the arteries in your legs and helps prevent artery disease.
Snacking may have been considered bad in the past, but if the activity is good for your health, you should keep doing it.
They also say that you should avoid sitting in one place and in one position for too long.
“If you let your body work naturally, you’re more likely to be healthier, happier, leaner, and actually live longer,” says Levine.
Both Dr. Samir Parekh and Dr. Rukhsheeda Saida believe that nothing can be said with certainty about whether fiddling is good for you, but if someone does it, there is no negative opinion about it. It is not right to do.