More on sitting more ...........More evidence mounts that the time you spent sitting each day, even if you exercise otherwise, is bad for you. Need tips on how to stop sitting?
The more time you spend sitting (outside of work), the greater your chances of death within the next 14 years. That is the finding of American Cancer Society's Cancer II study of over 100,000 healthy people they started tracking in 1992. Women who sit for more than six hours during their leisure time each day had a 37% greater chance of death than women who sat for three hours or, while men had an 18% greater chance of death.
This finding was independent of whether the people got in a good dose of exercise each day. That said, those who did get exercise did have a lower risk of death. Here is where I get confused, since press tends to spin this that the exercise isn't doing any good. I think what they are saying is that the total sitting is bad. Exercise is still good for reducing risks, but for the lowest risk you should also reduce your time spent sitting.
I've reported on two previous studies that had similar findings, that sitting is bad for your health. My walking friend Ruth commented on this at a recent half marathon we walked in. "But I get paid to sit. I get paid REALLY WELL to sit!" Like Ruth, my jobs involve sitting at a desk and computer. Time spent away from the computer is money lost. So -- what is the answer? I get regular missives from inventors of treadmill desks. Stand up to do your computer work!
I have 10 ways stop sitting still, which I am going to have to start taking very seriously!
Source: Alpa V. Patel, Leslie Bernstein, Anusila Deka, Heather Spencer Feigelson, Peter T. Campbell, Susan M. Gapstur, Graham A. Colditz, and Michael J. Thun "Leisure Time Spent Sitting in Relation to Total Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of US Adults." Am. J. Epidemiol., Advance Access published on July 22, 2010; doi: doi:10.1093/aje/kwq155
Walking Blog
By Wendy Bumgardner, Walking Guide
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