A recent study from the Mayo Clinic will have you jumping for joy. The study, which was recently published in Science magazine, focused on the weight-loss benefits of non-exercise activities — such as walking in from the parking lot at the store or tapping your foot to music — those activities we do everyday without even thinking about it.

The study involved 16 volunteers whose weight was normal — both men and women in their twenties and thirties. For eight weeks, the volunteers consumed a thousand calories above what they needed each day.

Some people in the experiment gained almost no weight, and some gained as much as 10 pounds. The weight-gain correlated almost perfectly with Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, called NEAT. The greater the NEAT, the less the weight gain.

This is wonderfully good news to the natural fidgeter, but it can be just as encouraging to anyone looking to shed a few pounds. The Mayo researchers suggested that boosting your NEAT level is pretty easy to do. Any movement you can add to your regular routine will help boost your NEAT level and burn more calories. Next time you’re chatting on the phone try pacing around the room rather then sitting. Or when you’re reading your email try bouncing your leg or tapping a toe. Even the smallest movements can add up to burn more calories.

The conclusions from this study also helped to explain the increasing obesity rates in the United States. The researchers suggested that in affluent, industrialized countries high-NEAT jobs have given way to lower-NEAT jobs driving up the obesity rates. Even more then that, the obesity problem is starting younger and younger as children now participate in lower-NEAT activities during playtime. Help your kids to naturally keep their weight in check by encouraging them to play outdoors and be more active. Also, watch out for TV and computer games where kids may spend a lot of time completely motionless.