Sitting is toxic to our health!

In continuing the general theme of the last few posts, we will examine sitting and its effects on our health. In the most recent blog we discussed how sitting for extended periods of time over months or years can compound and lead to potential muscular imbalances possibly causing pain. The purpose of this blog is to examine recent literature on how sitting affects our guts. More scientifically stated, how sitting affects our risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and mortality rate among other things. In a study utilizing data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, it has been reported that children and adults in the US spend 55% of their waking day in sedentary pursuits (Katzmarzyk, Church, Craig, & Bouchard, 2009). The pursuits include the more obvious possibilities such as working at a desk, playing video games and using a computer. This data also included less considered sedentary pursuits such as eating a meal at a table and riding in a car. It is important to understand that sitting is not only considered “sitting” when you do it at a desk or on the couch.

In the actual study conducted by Katzmarzyk et al. (2009), data from the Canada Fitness Survey was used which included a sample size of 7278 men and 9735 women. In this study, the researchers examined sitting time as almost none of the time, one fourth of the time, half of the time, three fourths of the time, and almost all the time during waking hours. In this study, several elements were considered such as smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure time physical activity, and body mass index.  There are many studies out there which examine sitting time as an independent factor in contributing to diabetes, heart disease etc. This study is interesting because it examined sitting time not only independently but co-dependently in smokers, non-smokers, former smokers, active individuals, inactive individuals, individual’s alcohol consumption, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

The study found that no matter the circumstances, those who sat more, were more likely to die from all causes than those who sat less. There was in fact a dose response relationship which means that the more the individuals sat, the higher their rate of mortality was. Even in the individuals who were meeting the minimum recommended amounts of physical activity, if they sat for the majority of the rest of the day, they still maintained a higher mortality rate than those who were just as active but sat less. The only cause in which there was no correlation found between sitting and mortality rate was cancer.

Perhaps going forward, we must consider decreasing our sitting time just as important as exercising and eating healthy. Below are 10 tips for decreasing your likelihood of being a statistic in this study:

1: Stand up more!

2: Exercise at least 30 minutes a day!

3: Exercise more than that!

4: Take frequent walking breaks if you have a desk job.

5: Walk at lunch.

5: Park further away at stores and work.

6: Run around with your kids when you get home from work.

7: Do yard work when you get home even when you had a long hard day of sitting on the job.

8: Walk the dog when you get home from work.

9: Turn off the TV!

10: Do not smoke!

 

Reference

Katzmarzyk, P., T., Church, T., S., Craig, C., L., & Bouchard, C. (2009). Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(5), 998-1005.