Sitting For Too Long Is Bad For Health

If you sit at a desk most of the day, you probably have some idea that it's not good for your weight or health.

A new study, published online in the European Heart Journal, has found that people who sit for extended periods of time without taking short breaks, are at higher risk for heart disease, compared to those who take more frequent breaks to stand up and walk around.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that even if you go the the gym regularly, the negative impact of long bouts of inactivity also seem to apply.

Genevieve Healy, of the Cancer Prevention Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia, said:

Even if you exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, what you do for the rest of the day may also be important for your cardiovascular health... This research suggests that even small changes to a person's activity levels [as little as standing up regularly] might help to lower cardiovascular risk. These changes can be readily incorporated into the person's day-to-day life [including the work environment]. Stand up, move more, more often, could be used as a slogan to help get this message across.

The researchers used data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included about 4,800 American men and women, aged 20 and up.Participants were fitted with a accelerometer on their hip, to monitor a week's worth of walking, running and sitting routines. Researchers also looked at measurements, including waist circumference, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.At the extremes, the most sedentary participants were found to sit a little more than 21 hours per day, while the least sedentary sat just under two hours per day. The fewest activity breaks taken over the course of a full week amounted to less than 100, while the most weekly breaks registered at nearly 1,300.Triglyceride levels were significantly higher among the most sedentary, as were signs of insulin resistance.Overall, those who took the most breaks from sitting (even if they spent a great deal of time being sedentary) were found to have the smallest waists.Getting up and taking a walk across the room may seem pointless, but it seems that short activity breaks just like that, are extremely beneficial to health.

So, what can you do to be more active throughout the day?

Stand while on the telephone, or in a meeting.Walk over to see your colleagues face-to-face, rather than emailing, or calling them.Use the stairs when possible to access the restrooms, for example.Basically, be more active wherever you possibly can.

And, here is another option...

15-Minute Desk Workout

Are you surprised by the findings in this study?

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