Sedentary Lifestyle Can Lead to Premature Death, Despite Exercise

The Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle

SAN DIEGO — Could your Netflix marathon or office job be putting your health at risk? It appears so, according to researchers from the University of California-San Diego. Their study suggests that reducing sedentary behavior, like sitting for long periods, could be the key to living longer. They found that elderly women who spent more than 11.7 hours a day sitting increased their risk of premature death by 30 percent. Surprisingly, this was true even for those who incorporated vigorous exercise into their routines!

The Extensive Research Behind the Findings

Despite the startling findings, the research is backed by a comprehensive study conducted by co-author Steve Nguyen, a postdoctoral fellow at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. His team studied time spent sitting and daily activity data collected from 6,489 women (ages 63 to 99) over a week-long period. These participants were then tracked for eight years to observe if any passed away during this period.

A Unique Approach to Analyzing Sedentary Behavior

The data was part of a larger, long-term national project called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), which has been ongoing since 1991. This specific report is the first to use a machine-learned algorithm, CHAP, to analyze the relationship between total sitting time and length of sedentary activity with the risk of premature death. As Nguyen explains, “Sedentary behavior is any waking behavior that involves sitting or reclining with low energy expenditure.”

The Impact of Exercise on Sedentary Behavior

Nguyen’s detailed assessment of sitting time and sedentary behavior revealed that such behavior is unhealthy because it reduces muscle contractions, blood flow, and glucose metabolism. Surprisingly, exercise was found to be incapable of reversing these negative effects. Regardless of the intensity and amount of physical activity, women who sat for long hours still faced the same heightened risk.

How to Reduce the Risks of Prolonged Sitting?

So, how can you mitigate the risks if you have a desk job or tend to sit for long periods? “Most people aren’t going to get up six times an hour, but maybe people could get up once an hour, or every 20 minutes or so. They don’t have to go anywhere, they can just stand for a little while,” recommends Prof. LaCroix.

Not All Sitting Is Equal

Interestingly, not all sitting behaviors hold the same risks. As Nguyen notes, “not all sitting is the same. For instance, sitting while studying a new language can be a cognitively stimulating activity. Whether this form of sedentary behavior is overall bad for a person is hard to say.”

A Shift in Lifestyle Is Needed

While it may be challenging to change sedentary behavior, Prof. LaCroix emphasizes that it’s often necessary. She concludes by saying, “We’ve created this world in which it’s so fascinating to sit and do things. But sitting all the time isn’t the way we were meant to be as humans, and we could reverse all of that culturally just by not being so attracted to all the things that we do while sitting.”

For more information on the study, check out the full report published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.