The national physical activity guidlines cite four main points for a healthy lifestyle:
1) Think of movement as an opportunity not an inconvenience
2) Be active in as many ways as possible
3) Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most and preferably all days
4) If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous exercise for extra health and fitness

So-called incidental exercise is an important way of adding to the daily energy consumption and therefore helping to maintain an energy balance that is conducive to weight maintenance or for those who need it, weight loss. Bearing in mind 56% of the Australian population is overweight or obese this is relevant to a large number of people.

By incidental exercise we mean using every opportunity we can find to move more. Use stairs instead of the lift or escalator, park further away from your destination, walk to the shop insead of driving etc. Always be on the search to make life more active.

If the whole population moved more - say up to the recommended 7,500 steps/day for a person of average build (slightly less for heavier people) we would reduce our health costs considerably. The incidence of diabetes and heart disease would drop and there would be many other health benefits - less arthritis in the knees, less back pain, less snoring and sleep apnoea, less menstrual disturbances and infertility etc.

Moving more is a challenge, particularly when we live in a world where opportunities to be physically active are being taken away from us all time because of automation and the high tech world we live in. Television and computers have a lot to answer for, especially for children.

Some people just like sitting rather than being active and there may be genetic determinates for this. Unfortunately these 'couch potatoes' have a high chance of being overweight in comparison with those restless fidgeters who just can't keep still and as a result tend to be leaner. New research from the Mayo Clinic in Boston has actually measured how much energy is consumed while fidgeting.

In comparison with the amount of energy burned when lying at rest, sitting burned an average of 3 kcals an hour more. Fidgeting while sitting using the small muscles of the body burned an extra 40 kcals an hour. Standing motionless requires an extra 10 kcals an hour whilst standing and fidgeting together burns an extra 70 kcals an hour. The researchers also studied the energy use of low level walking and found an increase of 119-229 kcals over resting enegy expenditure.

The World Health Organisation has advocated an extra 200 kcals a day in energy expenditure, and this could be achieved by increasing fidgety movements and low level walking of about two hours per day. For those who are very obese and are unable to walk because of a disability, fidgeting may be a worthwhile strategy to burn more energy for weight control.

Happy fidgeting - and by the way - make sure you are not fidgeting in the cookie jar!