Stand up, don’t sit
Modern Americans are used to tracking all manner of health behaviours, from calories consumed to steps taken. It’s time to add another to the list: hours spent sitting.
The drumbeat of research on the ill effects of sitting may have reached a crescendo last week with the publication of a study examining how sedentary time increases the risk of diseases that afflict many boomers, from diabetes to heart disease. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was a so-called meta-analysis of other studies that aimed to isolate the risks of sitting, independent of physical activity.
Researchers found that exercise did not erase the risks of spending too much time on our behinds. Although it helps to some degree, that trip to the gym won’t cancel out the harm done by a full day sitting in front of the computer or on the couch. “The key public health message should be ‘exercise regularly and try to sit less,’” said Avi Biswas, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in health services research affiliated with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto.
The disease connection
Researchers found the strongest link between sedentary time and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Prolonged sitting increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by a whopping 91%, increased the risk of dying from any cause by 24%, dying of heart disease by 18%, dying of cancer by 17%, and developing cancer by 13%. These risks are compared with those who sat less, even when accounting for the health benefits of exercising.
analyzed used different measures of sedentary time, so there’s no magic number. Suffice it to say that most of us with desk jobs spend way too much time on our rear ends.
To be sure, the studies relied mostly on self-reported data and weren’t the randomized, controlled trials that represent the gold standard in science, Biswas said. As such, researchers can’t say for sure that sitting causes diseases.
But the studies still met other, rigorous standards for inclusion, and they present pretty compelling evidence that sitting too much can make us sick, Biswas said.
It makes sense. After all, people worked, stood, and walked most of the time for much of human history. Desk jobs are a relatively new phenomenon, and it appears our bodies weren’t designed for them.
Lab studies have shown that sitting too much slows our metabolism, Biswas said. The back muscles that work to keep us upright when we stand play a role in regulating our metabolism, breaking down fats and sugars, Biswas said. These muscles are not as engaged when we sit.
