When it comes to your weight, it’s the little things that count. So says Dr. James Levine, a researcher and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, who blames the nation’s obesity epidemic on our lack of physical activity. Not exercise, but the type of physical activity we used to perform routinely throughout the day 50 years ago — walking to the store, doing the dishes and washing the car. Levine calls it NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis.” A patient cannot possibly anticipate success losing weight unless they integrate this NEAT movement into their daily lives,” says Levine by phone from his office, where he walks on a treadmill as he talks.

In his book “Move a Little, Lose a Lot: New NEAT Science Reveals How to Be Thinner, Happier and Smarter” (Crown, $23.95), published this year, Levine laments what he calls the “sitting disease” that afflicts most Americans. It’s what happens when we sit for most of the day in our cars, in front of computer screens and in front of television screens. Thanks to modern conveniences — dishwashers, remote controls, even electric toothbrushes — that eliminate much of our need to move, we’re burning 1,500-2,000 fewer calories per day than we should, according to Levine. That’s a lot more than what’s burned during formal workouts, which is why so many people fail to lose weight through diet and exercise, he argues. Why exercise vigorously for 30 minutes only to spend the rest of the day sedentary? “It’s integral not only to how the body loses weight but how the body actually functions,” says Levine. Too little moving can cause diabetes, hypertension and other health problems.

The solution is not to quit your office job, but to find ways to incorporate more movement into your daily life. In a typical day, Levine does a little gardening, works on his novel (on a treadmill) then drives to work, where he parks about 20 minutes away from his building. Then he answers emails and phone calls on his treadmill, walks to meetings and holds meetings on foot. He doesn’t do any formal exercise. Levine isn’t the only researcher to urge Americans to add in small movements throughout the day.

“We did a study on what will happen if people increased their daily activity by 2,000 steps, which equals about a mile, or reduced their daily calorie intake by 100 calories, and it shows it can offset the 1 to 3 pounds that most Americans are gaining a year,” says Mercedes Martinez, study coordinator of America On the Move, a national campaign to encourage physical activity. “By doing these small changes it’s easier to have success, so you can move to the next goal. We’re all about the small changes.”

Want to try upping your NEAT? Here’s how:

- Instead of driving your kids to school, organize a walking school bus, suggests Kathy Shields, Chronic Disease Prevention Manager at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. If the school is within walking distance, a parent can escort the kids in the neighborhood to school and back.

- Have walk-and-talk meetings at work. Skip the conference room and invite a co-worker or two for a mobile meeting around the block. If you need to jot down notes, walk to a nearby park that has picnic tables.

- Walk to a co-worker’s desk to chat instead of emailing or calling.

- Use the restroom on another floor of your office building.

- While watching TV, do sit-ups or push-ups, march in place or simply stand instead of sitting.

- Walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible — to the supermarket, library or video store.

- Have a break at work? Try a walk around the block instead of a cigarette or calorie-laden coffee drink.

- Try working at a stand-up desk instead of sitting.

- Skip the drive-through at the bank or fast-food restaurant and walk in instead.

- Pace while talking on the phone.

- Walk up stairs instead of escalators, or walk up escalators instead of standing still.