6 Minute English / Why sitting is bad for health

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Phil.

And I m Georgie. We all know how important exercise is to stay fit and reduce the risk of heart disease. Do you exercise much, Phil?

I try to. I ride my bike at the weekend. But to be honest I do spend a lot of time sitting down.

Sitting too much is becoming an increasing problem in the modern world. Maybe you take the bus or train to work, then sit at a desk all day, then go home feeling tired and just sit in front of the television all evening as well. Added together, that s hours of sitting every single day.

In this programme, we ll be finding out exactly how much sitting is too much. And, of course, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary.

But first, are you sitting comfortably, Phil? Because I have a question for you. On average, how many hours a day do British adults spend sitting down? Is it:

a) 7 hours?

b) 9 hours? or,

c) 12 hours?