Email, it seems, is now to blame for most of society's ills – including obesity. Apparently, health experts believe millions of hours of vital exercise are being lost every week thanks to all of us pressing the send button too often rather than getting off our backsides.
Sport England, as part of its Everyday Sport campaign, is launching Email-Free Friday this week. Employers, it says, should introduce a ban on internal emails and get staff walking around their office - presumably to complain that they can no longer send emails.
'We're losing millions of hours of exercise through the explosion of email,' said Dr Dorian Dugmore, a health adviser to Sport England. 'People email colleagues who sit next to them, never mind those who work on the other side of the office. We have to change people's lazy attitudes.' Increasing activity levels by 10 per cent could save 6,000 lives and £500 million per year, as well as leading to one million fewer obese people in England, it is argued.
