Sitting for a long time, the enemy of longevity

2024-12-22 22:32:00, Shëndeti CNA

Sitting for a long time, the enemy of longevity

Illustrative photo

According to a study, sitting for a long time can cause heart problems and more.

"Our findings really emphasize the importance of avoiding excessive sitting, regardless of whether or not you are physically active," said first study author Dr. Ezim Ajufo, a cardiology fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

While there is a general understanding that too much sitting is likely to harm your health, more research is needed to understand the exact risks and guidelines for what qualifies as too much sitting, said Dr. Keith Diaz, associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. He was not involved in the research.

The data tracked nearly 90,000 people who wore an accelerometer for a week and compared their sedentary and active time with subsequent diagnoses of conditions such as stroke, heart attack and heart failure in later years, according to the study published in on Friday from the American College of Cardiology.

"We would really recommend that as many people as possible avoid sitting for more than 10.6 hours a day. This is not a hard and fast threshold, but we think it is a reasonable first step for public health guidance and intervention."

Why is sitting for a long time so harmful?

There are some limitations when it comes to data.

The data were part of the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource that follows people over time. The sample was mostly white and of European descent, meaning it is not fully representative of the American population, Ajufo said.

The study is also observational, meaning that while it can make associations, it can't prove that sitting was the cause of heart disease, she added.

Still, it makes sense that sitting too much during the day would hurt, Diaz said.

Muscles are very important for regulating blood sugar and fat levels, he added. To do their job well, muscles need movement.

"Taking moving breaks is a way to give your muscles the stimulation they need to do their job, and it doesn't take much," Diaz said.

How to move?

The best thing you can do to avoid long periods of sitting is to get up in the office and walk around for a few minutes after you finish one job and then move on to the next job.

Another alternative is to engage in physical activities after work, although it will be difficult to compensate for long hours of sitting, still a little movement never hurt anyone.

"Sometimes we think we can completely compensate for some of the unhealthy behaviors we have by getting out and going for a run. What we can say from the findings is that moderate to vigorous physical activity, ie jogging, a brisk walk enough to neutralize the harmful effects of sitting."