More focus needed on flexibility

[Guest guest]

More focus needed on flexibility

By Harrabin

BBC Radio 4 Today Programme

Top experts in bones and joints have warned that the government's public

health policies concentrate too heavily on hearts and lungs.

They say more attention should be paid to the whole human frame.

Ministers plan new strategies to tackle obesity by increasing physical

activity and to cut falls among old people.

But two leading rheumatologists told Today that both strategies ignored the

need for flexibility and agility.

They said sitting slumped in a chair all day was not just bad for the heart

and the weight, it also reduced the mobility of joints which greatly

increased

the likelihood of falling.

Having flexible joints had another benefit, too, they said - it made people

feel better and happier in themselves.

Eastern cultures

If you sit on the floor, your muscles are working.

Anton Simmha

Professor Rodney Graham, from University College London Hospitals, said the

Department of Health under-emphasised the need to keep the musculo-skeletal

system healthy.

" It is a neglected area, which needs attention, " he said.

Professor Tony Woolf, from the Royal Cornwall Hospital, who is working with

the World Health Organization on its project, 'The Decade of Bones and

Joints',

said one in four adults in Europe had a structural condition like back pain,

rheumatism or arthritis that caused them problems.

He said: " It gets considered a normal part of ageing - something that

normally happens.

" We always talk about pain being bearable - implying that we should put up

with it - but we now know there are things we can do to prevent it or treat

it

more effectively. "

He said people needed to keep up flexibility to stave off pain.

Professor Woolf said in Eastern cultures where people are more physically

active and often sit on the floor rather than on chairs, there was anecdotal

evidence that problems with joints were less common.

Yoga expert

The route of our problems?

The author of a yoga book, Anton Simmha, has just returned from India.

He told Today that people there - especially children - appeared much more

aware of their bodies than people in the UK, and enjoyed better posture,

co-ordination, flexibility and balance.

He urged schools to encourage children to sit cross-legged in class whenever

possible in order to retain their childhood flexibility keep their back

muscles active.

He also wants teachers to offer exercises like stretching and yoga which

encourage flexibility and parallel development of both sides of the body to

counterbalance sports like football, tennis and cricket which encourage the

body to

develop out of line.

A big part of the problem in the West, he said, was the ubiquitous use of

chairs.

" In the West, the chair does present a very serious problem. If you sit a

lot, the muscles of the legs shorten so dramatically that it overloads the

spine,

causing everything from bad posture right through to more serious problems. "

" If you sit on the floor, your muscles are working. The spine is working to

align itself, making micro-adjustments to keep you erect. If you are sat in

a

chair, invariably you tend to slump. "

Falls among elderly people cost the NHS almost £1bn a year. Ministers plan a

drive to try to tackle the problem through practical measures such as making

sure carpets are properly fixed.

Another possible measure may to encourage firms to buy desks which enable

employees to work standing as well as sitting.

They are expensive, but Scandinavian countries reported a big improvement in

back problems and RSI following their introduction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3689423.stm

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