Saudi gets award for device to measure ‘idle time’

RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has awarded Saudi national Mohammad Ali Ahmadi for his invention entitled “The Device to Measure Sitting Time”, which seeks to record the total time that a person sits during the day without movement.
“Sitting for long periods of time is dangerous to human health,” said Ahmadi, explaining his reasons behind creating the device. He added that scientific studies indicate that more than 70 percent of people sit for about six hours or more per day, and that this puts them at risk of becoming sick due to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and osteoporosis.
He said that people often engage in physical activity for a few hours, yet during the rest of the day they spend too much time watching TV or computer games, driving, or surfing the internet.
Ahmadi added: “There are devices that indicate physical activity such as pedometers (for steps) but these measure the physical activity directly but not the time spent sitting to watch TV or play the computer."
Ahmadi said that his invention relates directly and continuously to physical inactivity, particularly the measurement of a person’s idle time. “This machine can be used by researchers interested in health and medical research, and its application in healthy and sick persons within different age groups,” he said.