Embrace the Fidget – You’ll Live Longer If You Do!

The definition of “fidget” is to make small movements, especially of the hands and feet, through nervousness impatience. Synonyms listed include move restlessly, wriggle, squirm, twitch, jiggle, shuffle, and to be agitated. Nowhere does it include the idea being healthy for the fidgeter. But maybe it is?

New research has found that sedentary people who consider themselves big fidgeters have better health outcomes than people who simply sit still.

The Chicago Tribune says researchers tracked the health of more than 12-thousand British women from ages 37 to 78.

The findings are fascinating: women who sat for seven or more hours per day had a 30 percent increased risk of dying from any cause… but only if they didn’t fidget.

Women who habitually shake their legs, tap their feet and drum their fingers saw no increased mortality rates. Is fidgeting a form of exercise?

Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images

For longer life, keep the muscles moving, the neurons firing, even if it’s while you sit at your desk!