Health Hazards: Too much sitting can kill you
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:32Even an hour of jogging every day can’t make up for the health risks caused by sitting at your office desk for too long. Here are some other risks you face if you don’t stand up.
According to a recent study, sitting for long hours could result in a higher risk of death. The research, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, pools data from 41 other international studies.
Dr. David Alter, a senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and author of the study, said exercising for 30-60 minutes doesn’t mean you can remain inactive for the rest of the day. This is simply because exercise won’t offset the drawbacks of prolonged sitting. Even those who exercise vigorously but sit for too long are still estimated with a 15-20% higher chance to die of any cause than those who do not sit for long.
Think about it — we stay seated at the office eight to nine hours straight, furiously typing away at our keyboards. Before we know it, it’s lunchtime, which requires more sitting. By the time work is over, we sit on the bus ride home, only to be glued on the sofa while watching TV. The vicious cycle of sitting repeats.
What are the health risks?
The study reports prolonged seating can result in higher chances of developing breast, colon, colorectal, endometrial and endothelial ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Insulin transports glucose to cells for energy, but cells in sedentary muscles don’t respond well to the hormone. As the pancreas produces more and more insulin, the risk of diabetes increases. Additionally during a sedentary state, muscles burn less fat and blood flow slows down, causing fatty acids to clog the heart more easily. All of these can potentially lead to premature death.
What should you do?
While we are still left to estimate how long is exactly (sitting) too long, Dr. Alter shared some tips to reduce our inactivity.
Start with monitoring how much you sit every day, and incorporate physical activity into your routine. At work, for example, take one to three minutes every 30 minutes to get up and walk around. At home, when watching TV, stand or do small workouts during commercials. He also encourages standing for periods of time on a daily basis as it burns twice as many calories as compared to merely sitting. It also promotes bone and muscle strength because we have to bear our body weight while standing.
If you are still sitting down while reading this last line, you better stand up! The bottom line is to keep singing James Brown’s famous lyrics, “Get up, get on up!”
Natasha Gan
