Sitting is Hazardous to Your Health

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The research showed that those who sat for long periods of time have a higher chance in their risk of diabetes, heart-disease and death.
Diabetes Research Group, University of Leicester

It’s been suggested that you sit too much. New research from the University of Leicester backs up this claim. (By the way, there are several other studies showing the same thing.  Look here, here, here.) The study combines the results of 18 different studies and includes nearly 800,000 participants. Here are the important details.  Emphasis is mine:

“The research showed that those who sat for long periods of time have a higher chance in their risk of diabetes, heart-disease and death.  Interestingly, the results were independent of any individual physical exercise undertaken, suggesting that even if an individual meets the physical activity guidelines, their health may still be at risk if they sit for long periods of time during the day.”

I find this fascinating. You’re putting yourself at risk of death if you sit too much–even if you’re highly physically active. So in this way, sitting is like smoking. We can’t seem to out-exercise our sitting habit. So what do we do?  We need to move a little.  Researchers suggest we take frequent breaks from sitting and go move around.

It’s often easy to sit at your desk for hours on end and not even know it.  We need to be reminded to move. So here’s an idea: Set a recurring meeting on your computer’s calendar.  Make it every half-hour or hour. Label it “Get up and move around.”  Otherwise, try this series of spine mobility drills. (Because it’s not just sitting per se that’s so bad, but lack of movement that’s the problem.  You can still move while sitting at your desk.)

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