Research has shown that too much sitting takes a toll on an individual body. For most professionals, sedentary lifestyle is it, even when they wish they could do their job while standing up or better still, while moving around. The doctor sits down for the better part of the day while attending to his patients, few times he moves around to check on the admitted patients; the tailor gums his butt to the chair as he works in a frenzy to meet the date he has set for his customer; the computer graphics artist/designer spends hours working to perfect a particular job; journalists, writers, and everyone else caught in-between can tell you how tiring (ironically) it is to sit down for long hours in the course of getting some job done. Worse still, after office hours, the tendency is to continue sitting down as you transit from work back home. At home, you relax before the TV while sitting down; at dinner table, the sitting continues until you go to bed.
Of course, when you are tired and are not lying down immediately, you take a seat in order to catch your breath, which is reasonably acceptable. However, scientists are saying that sitting for too long at a stretch and in the course of a day has health implications that are better avoided as much as you can. The problem is not reduced by just engaging in moderate exercise, which is also good for health. Even when you engage in daily exercise like walking briskly for about 30 minutes daily, or hitting the treadmill, experts are saying the sedentary lifestyle that too much sitting foists on you can still damage your health!
Epidemiologist/professor of public health at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Steven Blair, who has spent 40 years investigating physical activity and health, headed a study that looked at adult men and their risk of dying from heart disease. He calculated how much time the men spent sitting — in their cars, at work, and in front of the TV. The researchers found that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 per cent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity. Blair and his team say this is a surprising finding, considering that many of the men routinely exercised.
He says, “Let’s say you do 30 minutes of walking five days a week (which is commendable), and let’s say you sleep for eight hours, that still leaves 15.5 hours in the day during which you probably sit down the better part of the time.” The scientists say those who sit more are substantially more likely to die because, “If you’re sitting, your muscles are not contracting, perhaps except to type. But the big muscles, like in your legs and back, are sitting there pretty quietly, and because the major muscles aren’t moving, metabolism slows down.”
Again, the researchers say, people who sit more have high levels of cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides and even waist size, which increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and a number of health problems. Again, in a report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, scientists at Karolinska Institute and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm say the chance of developing metabolic syndrome — a condition which can lead to diabetes, rose by 26 per cent for every extra hour a woman spent watching television, no matter how much exercise she took. Researchers note that sitting for too long is such a bad practice, as it decreases the activity of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which helps burn fat. The attitude also leads to a decrease in bone mineral density without increasing bone formation, which raises the risk of fracture.
For male folk, scientists warn that men who sit for four hours or less daily are much less
likely to have a chronic condition such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure, than those who sit for more than four hours each day. Again, they say, men who sit for at least six hours daily are at significantly greater risk for diabetes. They warn that excess sitting increases blood pressure and decreases the diameter of arteries, both of which make heart disease more likely. In a study published in International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, researchers note that, “It’s not just that people aren’t getting enough physical activity, but it’s that they’re also sitting too much. And on top of that, the more you sit, the less time you have for physical activity.”
Another study by Australian researchers, published in the European Heart Journal, notes that it’s not just the length of time we spend sitting down but the number of times we get up during that time that can influence our health. Corroborating the findings of other researchers, lead author, Dr. Genevieve Healy, of the University of Queensland, avers that plenty of breaks, even if they are as short as one minute, seem to be beneficial. “Our research highlights the importance of considering prolonged sedentary time as a distinct health risk behaviour that warrants explicit advice in future public health guidelines,” Healy says.
The bottom line: Do not remain in one stop beyond one hour at a time.
Unchain yourself
•When your phone rings, stand up to answer it
•Have walking meetings
•Don’t walk or sit too much, as both cause back pain. Rather, introduce variety and interruptions to your immobility as often as possible
•Simply stand up, dance about, wiggle around, take a few steps back and forth, march in place
•Use the stairs instead of lifts.... HEALTH IS WEALTH
Of course, when you are tired and are not lying down immediately, you take a seat in order to catch your breath, which is reasonably acceptable. However, scientists are saying that sitting for too long at a stretch and in the course of a day has health implications that are better avoided as much as you can. The problem is not reduced by just engaging in moderate exercise, which is also good for health. Even when you engage in daily exercise like walking briskly for about 30 minutes daily, or hitting the treadmill, experts are saying the sedentary lifestyle that too much sitting foists on you can still damage your health!
Epidemiologist/professor of public health at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Steven Blair, who has spent 40 years investigating physical activity and health, headed a study that looked at adult men and their risk of dying from heart disease. He calculated how much time the men spent sitting — in their cars, at work, and in front of the TV. The researchers found that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 per cent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity. Blair and his team say this is a surprising finding, considering that many of the men routinely exercised.
He says, “Let’s say you do 30 minutes of walking five days a week (which is commendable), and let’s say you sleep for eight hours, that still leaves 15.5 hours in the day during which you probably sit down the better part of the time.” The scientists say those who sit more are substantially more likely to die because, “If you’re sitting, your muscles are not contracting, perhaps except to type. But the big muscles, like in your legs and back, are sitting there pretty quietly, and because the major muscles aren’t moving, metabolism slows down.”
Again, the researchers say, people who sit more have high levels of cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides and even waist size, which increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and a number of health problems. Again, in a report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, scientists at Karolinska Institute and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm say the chance of developing metabolic syndrome — a condition which can lead to diabetes, rose by 26 per cent for every extra hour a woman spent watching television, no matter how much exercise she took. Researchers note that sitting for too long is such a bad practice, as it decreases the activity of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which helps burn fat. The attitude also leads to a decrease in bone mineral density without increasing bone formation, which raises the risk of fracture.
For male folk, scientists warn that men who sit for four hours or less daily are much less
Another study by Australian researchers, published in the European Heart Journal, notes that it’s not just the length of time we spend sitting down but the number of times we get up during that time that can influence our health. Corroborating the findings of other researchers, lead author, Dr. Genevieve Healy, of the University of Queensland, avers that plenty of breaks, even if they are as short as one minute, seem to be beneficial. “Our research highlights the importance of considering prolonged sedentary time as a distinct health risk behaviour that warrants explicit advice in future public health guidelines,” Healy says.
The bottom line: Do not remain in one stop beyond one hour at a time.
Unchain yourself
•When your phone rings, stand up to answer it
•Have walking meetings
•Don’t walk or sit too much, as both cause back pain. Rather, introduce variety and interruptions to your immobility as often as possible
•Simply stand up, dance about, wiggle around, take a few steps back and forth, march in place
•Use the stairs instead of lifts.... HEALTH IS WEALTH
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