For those of us who work behind a desk, we’re doing a lot of sitting.
All that sedentary time adds up, and according to a new study published in JAMA, there are health risks associated with sitting for too long.
The researchers found that in order to counteract the negative effects of excessive sitting, desk workers are encouraged to do some extra exercise each day.
“These findings suggest that reducing prolonged sitting in the workplace and/or increasing the volume or intensity of daily physical activity may be beneficial in mitigating the elevated risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease associated with prolonged occupational sitting,” the researchers wrote.
Too much sitting comes with risks
For the study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 500,000 participants who were enrolled in a health surveillance program in Taiwan from 1996 through 2017. Researchers collected information on the participants’ jobs, lifestyle, physical activity, and overall metabolic health, including blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and more.
Ultimately, the researchers learned that sitting down for large portions of the day wasn’t good for the participants’ longevity. The study showed that those who had jobs that required sitting for the majority of the day had a 34% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and a 16% higher risk of death from any cause.
Exercise can help
However, you can counteract these negative health risks with some added exercise. The researchers explained that by increasing exercise each day, mostly sitting workers can lower their mortality risk.
When sedentary workers upped their exercise by 15-30 minutes per day, their mortality risk lowered to match another group in the study – those who are more active at work but aren’t physically active.
Another option: take frequent breaks throughout the work day to break up long periods of sitting. The study found that individuals who alternated throughout the day between sitting and standing were also not at an increased mortality risk.
“As part of modern lifestyles, prolonged occupational sitting is considered normal and has not received due attention, even though its deleterious effects on health outcomes has been demonstrated,” the researchers wrote. “Emphasizing the associated harms and suggesting workplace system changes may help society to denormalize this common behavior, similar to the process of denormalizing smoking.”
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Posted: 2024-02-01 14:14:59
