Prolonged sitting (sitting for long periods without standing or moving) is associated with a host of health problems. These include obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Now, a new study suggests that spending too much time in sedentary activities can actually reduce your lifespan. This is particularly true if you don’t get enough exercise.
Obesity
More than 1 in 4 adults in the United States spends more than eight hours a day sitting, and more research is showing that this sedentary lifestyle has harmful health effects. Sitting increases your risk of several chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
You can help combat these health hazards by moving around throughout the day. Even a little movement, such as taking five minutes to walk around once every half hour, can make a big difference.
One study found that sitting for long periods can increase your risk of developing blood clots in your veins, which can lodge in your lungs and lead to death. These clots are called deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Another problem is that prolonged sitting reduces your body’s ability to process fats and sugars. When you sit, your muscles don’t release molecules like lipoprotein lipase that help process these fats and sugars.
This leads to the storage of excess fat in your abdomen, which is more dangerous for your health. This can also contribute to metabolic syndrome, which is a group of conditions that increase your risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Finally, if you’re constantly sedentary for long periods, it can affect your mood. Those who sit most of the time are more likely to develop depression than those who move more regularly, according to research.
Prolonged sedentary behaviors are a major cause of obesity and are linked to multiple health conditions. This is because people who are obese consume more calories than their bodies need and gain weight, which puts them at a higher risk for a number of diseases. Many of these diseases can be prevented by changing the way we eat and move, as well as by improving our social environment and our health care systems.
Diabetes
Sitting for long periods of time can have a negative impact on your health, including increasing your risk of diabetes. Doctors also say it may cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a potentially dangerous blood clot that can break free and lodge in your leg or lungs.
Prolonged sitting is also linked to a higher risk of developing depression and cognitive decline. It can also increase your risk of obesity and heart disease, says Rachel Lampert, MD, a cardiologist at Yale Medicine.
Fortunately, there are a number of ways to counter the harmful effects of prolonged sitting. One way is to replace periods of sitting with short bouts of standing or light walking.
For example, a study published in BMJ Open found that people who replaced 30 minutes of prolonged sitting with shorter bouts of sitting had a 4 percent reduction in fasting insulin levels. This is similar to what a recent review of research on the subject found in Sports Medicine, which suggested that interrupting long periods of seated time with two-minute walks every 20 minutes might help maintain glucose control and the body’s normal response to insulin.
A new study has also shown that replacing prolonged seated sitting with stepping can be associated with a small drop in blood sugar and insulin levels. Researchers evaluated the link between sedentary behaviour and blood sugar and insulin in a large, cross-sectional study of adults over the age of 50.
This study showed that sedentary time was associated with increased diabetes risk in both men and women, even after accounting for BMI and leisure-time physical activity. However, after adjustment for both factors, the relationship was less pronounced, the authors say. The results suggest that future prevention programmes should include interventions to promote reduced sedentary behaviour alongside other lifestyle changes.
Heart disease
Sitting for long periods, even if it’s not interrupted, can increase your risk of heart disease and other health problems. These problems include high blood pressure, excess body fat around your waist, and a cluster of conditions that make up metabolic syndrome.
People who sit a lot are also more likely to develop a type of heart disease called restrictive cardiomyopathy, which can cause weakening and thickening of the heart muscle, resulting in an irregular heartbeat. Men are more likely to get this condition than women, and it’s more common in older people.
Prolonged sitting can also increase your blood pressure and make it more difficult to control your blood sugar levels. This combination of factors can raise your risk of developing diabetes and other diseases, too.
Several studies have shown that sitting for long periods can damage the arteries in your heart. That’s because it reduces the amount of blood that can flow through them. The arteries get narrower and clogged up with plaque. That can block the blood vessels and lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Another thing that can happen when you sit for a long time is the development of varicose veins, which are abnormally enlarged veins in your legs. These can be painful and can be a sign of a serious problem, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is when blood clots form in the veins.
Many adults spend more than half their waking hours in sedentary behaviours, including sitting. This pattern is particularly prevalent in older adults, and it has become more pervasive owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic1. These sedentary behaviours may have different effects on your cardiovascular health than a lack of exercise.
Cancer
It is no secret that sitting a lot raises the risk of several health concerns, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer. Even if you exercise regularly, a recent study shows that prolonged sedentary behaviour is an independent risk factor for cancer.
A new meta-analysis that looked at the data from 43 studies of 4 million people found that the average person who spends most of their time sitting increases their risk of colon cancer by 8 percent, of endometrial cancer by 10 percent and of lung cancer by 6 percent. This is in addition to the existing links between sedentary behaviour and other forms of cancer such as breast and prostate.
In addition, sitting for long periods also increases the risk of deep vein thrombosis, which is a blood clot that can lodge in your lungs and cause death. So it’s a good idea to break up your sitting sessions, either by standing up from your chair or by taking small breaks from your desk, according to Graham Colditz, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who has studied the link between sitting and cancer.
In fact, the American Cancer Society recommends adding short breaks from sitting to a daily regimen of at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. It’s also a good idea to take frequent breaks from all sedentary activities, such as watching TV and snacking, which can be particularly bad for your health.
Mental health
Sitting for extended periods of time increases your risk of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. It also interferes with your ability to be mentally active and makes it harder to cope with stress.
Prolonged sitting affects the brain’s structure and activity, including areas that help with memory. Research has linked prolonged sitting to decreased activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and posterior cingulate cortex. These regions are responsible for attention and working memory.
In addition, excessive sitting reduces the density and activity of the hippocampus, a key region for memory formation. This is why it’s important to get as much physical activity as possible throughout the day.
One way to fight this problem is by breaking up prolonged sitting with breaks that include light activity, such as a few minutes of squats or jumping jacks every 30 minutes. Another is to limit the number of hours a person sits each day.
Excessive sitting is a growing health concern because it can increase the risks of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It also raises your risk of developing certain cancers and premature death.
New research suggests that a sedentary lifestyle can worsen your mental health, especially when you’re young. It also makes it more difficult to get the amount of physical activity you need to stay healthy.
Studies have shown that sitting for more than six hours a day can be a sign of anxiety and depression. This is bad news for many people who spend their days sitting at a desk. Luckily, there are a lot of simple ways to combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle and improve your mental health.
