A recent study from the Medical College of Wisconsin was conducted to assess the impact of our sedentary lifestyle on our health. It seems that sitting for many hours a day increases the risk of premature death by 40%.
Research on the same subject had already been conducted at the University of Leicester and Loughborough. Their results were already alarming, but the new data from the College of Wisconsin research is truly alarming.
Conclusion: sitting daily for long periods of time is very bad for your health!
According to the researchers, people who spend most of their time sitting in a chair are 112% more likely to develop diabetes and have a 147% higher risk of cardiovascular problems such as stroke. It is estimated that the increased risk is for heart failure, cardiovascular disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, but also for cancer.
Sitting for more than 11 hours a day would increase the risk of premature death by 40% compared to people who sit less, at least 4 hours less. In this position, the body burns less fat, insulin levels drop and blood pressure increases. And contrary to what we are led to believe, this sedentary lifestyle cannot be fully compensated even by regular physical activity.
This study, which followed more than 2,000 adults with an average age of 50, shows that the benefits of a fitness session are outweighed by the many hours of sitting. In conclusion, reducing the amount of time spent in a chair, even by an hour or two a day, could have a significant positive impact on your future life and health. If these people reduced their sitting time by 3 hours, they would gain an average of two years of life expectancy. That's according to Dr. Jacquelyn Kulinski, one of the study's authors.
In the same vein, another study recently published in the United States shows that prolonged sitting increases the risk of disability in people over 60. Americans in this age group spend 2/3 of their time, or about nine hours a day, sitting. This research conducted on more than 2,200 people explains that for a person over 60 years old, each additional hour of sedentary time increases his risk of disability by 50%. The disability would affect even simple daily activities such as grooming, dressing and walking. This is confirmed by Dr. Dorothy Dunlop, Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, one of the lead authors of this research.
Participants in this 3-year study wore sensors that measured time spent sitting and time spent moving. In particular, the authors cite the example of two 65-year-old women with the same health profile. If one is sedentary for 12 hours a day, she has a 6% higher risk of becoming more disabled than her counterpart. If sitting for up to 13 hours a day, the risk of disability rises to 9%. Exercise, such as simply walking briskly on a regular basis, is believed to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by almost half, as well as the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. This has been corroborated by several studies on the same subject.
Unfortunately, health problems related to a lack of physical activity are on the rise in the United States, but also in many other countries.
A recent study from the Medical College of Wisconsin looked at the consequences of our sedentary lifestyle. Sitting for more than 11 hours a day increases the risk of premature death by 40%.
If you're reading this article from the comfort of your own chair, you're likely to get up quickly. Research from the University of Leicester and Loughborough University have already analyzed the consequences of our sedentary lifestyle, but the results from the Medical College of Wisconsin are startling. These different studies have established a very strong link between sitting for long periods of time and poor health. According to scientists, people who spend most of their time in a chair are 112% more likely to develop diabetes and are 147% more likely to suffer from cardiovascular problems such as stroke.
Sitting for more than 11 hours a day increases the risk of premature death by 40% compared to those who sit for 4 hours or less. When we are in this position, our body burns less fat. Our insulin levels drop while our blood pressure rises. But the major problem is that these health concerns related to our sedentary lifestyle cannot be fully offset by physical activity.
That's what a new study from the Medical College of Wisconsin shows. For their research, the authors followed more than 2,000 adults with an average age of 50 years. They found that the benefits of the fitness sessions were negated by the many hours of sitting. "Reducing the amount of time you spend in a chair, even by an hour or two a day, can have a positive and significant impact on your future," Dr. Jacquelyn Kulinski, one of the study's authors, tells The Telegraph.
Sitting for too long increases the risk of disability in people over 60, according to research published Wednesday in the United States.
Americans in this age group are sedentary two-thirds of the time, or about nine hours a day, according to this research conducted on more than 2,200 people and published in the latest edition of the journal Physical Activity and Health.
For every additional hour an adult over 60 spends sitting, they increase their risk of becoming disabled for daily activities such as grooming, dressing and walking by 50%, according to lead author Dr. Dorothy Dunlop, professor of medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill.
Health problems related to this lack of activity are increasing in the United States, she adds, citing studies that show sitting too much increases the risk of heart failure, adult-onset (type 2) diabetes, mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. One of these studies shows that if these people spent less than three hours a day sitting, they would gain an average of two years of life expectancy.
Participants wore sensors for one week during the course of this three-year study. This accelerometer measured the time spent sitting and moving. The research authors cite the example of two 65-year-old women with the same health profile. If one is sedentary for 12 hours a day, she has a 6% chance of becoming disabled, says Dr. Dunlop.
For those who sit for thirteen hours a day, their chances of being disabled are 9%. Exercise, such as simply walking briskly on a regular basis, can cut the risk of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease by nearly half, other research shows.
Physical activity also slows the normal aging of the brain in older people, according to Kirk Erickson, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. As we age, the brain shrinks, and physical activity improves overall brain function and increases hippocampal volume by 2%, which is equivalent to reversing brain aging by one to two years, he explained this weekend at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Chicago. He cited research he conducted on 120 people aged 65 and over.
The time people spend sitting during their day should be limited and should not exceed 30 consecutive minutes. Children and young people should also not be allowed to watch television for more than two hours a day, and this should be completely eliminated for children under the age of two.
These are some of the recommendations in a text on nutrition and exercise written by the expertise center Eetexpert.be at the request of the Flemish Minister of Welfare Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V).
The text is intended for use by family physicians, educational consultants and dietitians, among others, to align their advice on this topic.
It contains recommendations not only about healthy eating and physical activity, but also about sedentary behavior.
"In the past, the only thing that was recommended was exercise. But recently, a lot of attention has been paid to sitting still. In fact, staying in this position continuously increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In schools, for example, lessons should be interrupted every 30 minutes by a physical activity," explains Ilse Bourdeaudhuij, from the University of Ghent.
Nine out of ten people do not seem to be motivated to take action on their weight. Moreover, 47.1% of Flemish adults are overweight and 13.7% are obese.
According to several scientific studies, physical activity can extend a man's life by up to six years and a woman's life by up to five years.