The new year is a time when we often think about our health and lifestyle and make new goals for the coming year; it’s a natural thing to do, right? Well, not to disappoint, I want to share with you some alarming information about why some are saying that sitting is the new smoking. In other words, our sedentary jobs and lifestyles are killing us!
Before I get started, I want to apologize for being away from my desk for the last couple months. Life happens, you know, and sometimes the muse is on vacation for a short while. I’ll try to be considerate of your readership and a bit more consistent in my contributions to your reading.
How bad is prolonged sitting?
The World Health Organization actually ranks physical inactivity as the fourth largest preventable cause of death globally. Worldwide, prolonged sitting is thought to cause 3.2 million deaths annually. That’s a lot of deaths! In fact, globally more people died preventable deaths from too much sitting than from pneumonia.
One Australian study done in 2008 reported that after the age of 25 every hour spent sitting reduced life expectancy by 21.8 minutes. Smoking a single cigarette is estimated to reduce life expectancy by 11 minutes. Sitting for ten hours a day could be like smoking a pack a day!
Furthermore, it is found that exercise alone cannot undo the ill effects of prolonged sitting. If you exercise once a day but spend the rest of the day sitting, you lose the benefit of exercise. Prolonged sitting is becoming such a big public health problem that it is sometimes referred to as “sitting disease”.
What makes sitting so dangerous?
Prolonged sitting increases the risk of developing diabetes by 112%. It also associated with weight gain, obesity and metabolic derangement. Your risk of cardiovascular disease is 147% higher if you are sedentary. 82% of blood clots occur in people who have been sitting for a long time. Men who sit for more than six hours a day have a 48% increased risk of death. For women who sit longer than six hours a day, the risk of increases by 94%.
A study conducted in 2011 found that prolonged sitting is associated with an increased risk of over 34 chronic conditions, including obesity, weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. This is not new information at all.
How much do we sit?
We are BIG sitters. The average American sits for an average of 12 hours a day. 44% of those do not get enough exercise. We watch on average three or more hours of television daily and get less than 20 minutes of daily exercise. Ugh, that’s terrible!
Now that I have retired, I find that I am sitting a lot, even compared to clinic work. I look for things to do throughout the day to break up the sitting. In fact, I think I’ll go put some clothes in the wash. Be right back!
What are the benefits of frequent movement?
First of all, frequent brief movement is underrated! Activities like standing and walking may not burn a lot of calories at one time. But overall they account for more of our calories burned during the day than medium to high energy activities like going for a half-hour run. Low-energy activities sprinkled throughout the day exert a significant influence on our metabolic rate.
Movement during the day has benefits including improving your focus and productivity, lowering stress and improving mood. It improves metabolism and is associated with reducing pain and toning muscles. Movement also reduces your risk of chronic and acute diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blood clots and cancer.
How can I make my day more active?
You can start adding more activity by taking a break every thirty minutes. Think of it as 30:2. Two minutes of walking, stretching, standing and other low-key activity is recommended for every 30 minutes of sitting time. You have to break up the prolonged sitting time. Simply working out for an hour after work does not undo the damage prolonged sitting causes! Consider some of the flowing activities:
- Stand and stretch during a phone call or meeting.
- Stretch or walk to the bathroom or dance during TV breaks.
- Set your phone alarm to go off at 30-minute increments while working on a long project, then get up and go somewhere or do something.
- Try a convertible standing desk. I had a convertible desk in my office where I could raise it to stand periodically during the day, and similar computer desks in my exam rooms.
- Use the stairs instead of an elevator.
- Replace sedentary hobbies with more active hobbies. (I love my kayak!)
- Consider adopting a dog. Studies show dog owners get more physical activities (you know, pups want to walk!) and live longer.
- Park further away from your office or the grocery store.
- Consider a walking group at work to take short walks during breaks.
Resources like www.JustStand.org can help with tools like a calorie burning estimator, sitting assessment tool, and even a workspace planner and ergometric tools. Their website also contains references to recent research on prolonged sitting.
OK, so in all fairness, I went over 30 minutes researching and writing this blog, but I did get up and moved around a few times. It is a habit to be developed. Next time, I will set my phone alarm!
A gentle reminder: if you enjoy reading my little rants, please hit the button to the right and subscribe. That way you’ll get a little note in your email that I’ve made a new post. Easy-peasy! I’ll be back soon with another enlightening topic.
The Facts Behind ‘Sitting Disease’ and Living Sedentary | JustStand.org
Sitting risks: How harmful is too much sitting? – Mayo Clinic
Sitting-is-the-New-Smoking.pdf (prrt.org)
Sitting Disease: The Terrifying Facts of Prolonged Sitting (ergonomicshealth.com)