A recent study suggested that sitting for too long increases our risk of several diseases and even death. Some studies are even suggesting that sitting is the new smoking. Technology can be a great thing. It has made the world much smaller, information is more accessible, and many tasks can be done easier and faster. Great as it is, technology has also led to significant health risks for all people. Compared to our parents and grandparents, we spend more time in environments that limit physical activity and prolong sitting.
Let’s think about all of the things that have made life “easier” and removed physical activity from our daily tasks: Garage door openers, dishwashers, TV remotes, clothes washer, e-mail, farming equipment, kitchen beaters, drive thru windows, and countless more! The ease of our modern lifestyles could come at the expense of our longevity. We hardly have to get up anymore to accomplish many tasks.
More than half of the average person’s waking life is spent doing sedentary activities like watching TV, working at a computer, driving, eating, talking on the phone— these can all be harmful to our health if done for an extended amount of time. Our bodies are designed for manual labor. When we don’t provide the body with what it is designed for, certain bodily functions actually slow down.
Because of our sedentary lifestyles and the effects it has on our health, physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth-leading risk factor for death for all people around the world, according to the WHO. Recent studies have suggested that prolonged sitting puts us at an increased risk of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and premature death. Prolonged sitting, or sitting for 8-12 hours or more a day, increases our risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 90% (not 8-12 hrs at a time, but total).
When we sit we demand little effort from our muscles. This is a problem because the muscle activity needed for standing and other movement seems to trigger important processes related to the breakdown of fats and sugars within the body. When we sit, these processes stall and our health risks increase, particularly diabetes and heart disease which are affected by sugar and fat in the body. When we stand or move, these processes kick back into action.
I think the most eye-opening conclusion from these studies, is that our time spent sitting overshadows how much exercise we get. Even if we get the daily recommended amount of physical activity, we’re still at risk of developing chronic conditions if we spend too much time sitting. Now, those that do exercise regularly have a lesser risk than those that don’t, but we’re still at risk if we sit for prolonged periods of time. So we can no longer look at sedentary behavior and exercise as two separate items. Rather, we need to start looking at these behaviors in relationship to one another, because we can be both sedentary and physically active.
The evidence concludes that prolonged sitting should be considered a common health concern. Unfortunately, much like with smoking or tobacco use, fear of an early death doesn’t usually motivate people to change their habits. But losing weight might be an incentive. We burn 30% more calories when we’re standing than when we’re sitting. Burned calories can lead to weight loss and increased energy. Thirty percent isn’t a huge amount, but it adds up over time and can help with weight control.
So, how much sitting can you safely do in a day? We already know that sitting for 8 to 12 hours a day greatly increases our risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Studies suggest that once we’re sitting for more than 6 to 8 hours a day, that’s not likely to be good for us. Our goal should be to avoid prolonged sitting and increase the amount of movement we do each day. But how? How do we change our environment, our daily grind, the public/social perspective, even life as we know it? Seems like too big of a task.
We can start with ourselves. The first step is to be aware of how many hours we spend sitting each day. Then we need to set a goal to slowly decrease that time spent sitting and replace it with standing or movement. We can do this by:
1. Taking a 1 to 3 minute break every 30 minutes to get up and walk around or perform "deskercises"
2. Getting up during commercials or even do a few exercises during commercials instead of sitting through them and scrolling through Facebook on your phone, or instead of fast-forwarding if you have a DVR. 3. Doing a leisure activity like bowling, darts, Wii games, swimming, gardening, or shooting baskets. These activities are fun and require little effort, but people rarely do them anymore. 4. Stand up while talking on the phone, even walk around the house or office, or take it outside 5. Convince your boss to have walking meetings 6. Set up an alarm on your smartphone to remind you to get up (I suggest the RandomlyRemindMe app)
The idea is for movement and activity to become a habit, something that we don’t have to think about, like brushing our teeth. The solution seems to be less sitting and more moving overall. Think about how simple this concept is: People who don't exercise can be healthier even if all they do is reduce the amount of time they sit. People who do exercise can be healthier by decreasing the time they spend sitting, too. What we are really talking about here is a change in the fundamental way that we do things in society. We need to look for opportunities to get up and move, like our life depends on it.
