Study finds prolonged sitting increases risk of early death from 14 diseases

The message is loud and clear – Most of us need to move more each day.  Sitting for 6 or more hours a day, increases the risk of dying an early death from 14 diseases which include the following:

·      Cancer

·      Heart disease

·      Stroke

·      Diabetes

·      Kidney disease

·      Suicide

·      Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

·      Lung disease

·      Liver disease

·      Peptic ulcer and other digestive disease

·      Parkinson’s disease

·      Alzheimer’s disease

·      Nervous disorders

·      Musculoskeletal disorders

This news is from a new American Cancer Society study which found your risk of dying early jumps19 percent compared with people who sit fewer than three hours a day.  Data was collected on nearly 128,000 men and women who were part of the American Cancer Society prevention study.  At the start of the study, all were free of major chronic diseases.  During 21 years of follow-up, nearly 49,000 people died.

Even though the study does not prove cause and effect, Americans are spending more time seated – watching TV, working and playing on computers and smartphones, or spending long hours driving.  The problem of sitting too much becomes worse with age and anyone with a chronic disease spends even more time being sedentary.

The study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, estimated that 90 percent of non-working time was spent sitting.  Prolonged sitting has been linked to higher levels of triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure and insulin and has been tied to inflammation caused by obesity.

The increased mortality risk differed by disease, ranging from 10 percent for cancer to 60 percent for musculoskeletal disease.

Researchers agreed that more studies are needed to figure out why sitting appears to boost the risk of early death but how to improve that is no mystery – we need to move often each day. 

Other ways prolonged sitting harms health

Here are a few other ways in which sitting too long can harm the body:

·      Weak abdominal muscles – When standing or moving, the abdominal muscles keep us upright.  But when sitting, many of us tend to slump leading to weak abs.  Tight back muscles and unused abs hurt posture by exaggerating the spine’s natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback.

·      Tight hips – Flexible hips keep us balanced but chronic sitting leads to hip flexor muscles in front that rarely extend becoming short and tight.  This limits range of motion and stride length.  Decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall.

·      Soft glutes – Sitting on your bum all day does absolutely nothing for it.  When our glutes get weak and soft, this hurt stability and the ability to push off and the ability to maintain a powerful stride.

·      Poor circulation in the legs – If a good chunk of our day is spent sitting, those long periods of time idle slows blood circulation.  Fluids tend to pool in the legs resulting in swollen ankles and varicose veins to dangerous blood clots called deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

·      Soft, weak bones – Bones require weight-bearing activities frequently throughout the day such as walking and running to stimulate hip and lower-body bones to grow thicker, denser, and stronger. 

·      Neck strain – If most of your daily work is spent seated in front of a computer or on the phone, you’re likely to crane your neck forward toward the keyboard or tilt your heat to cradle a phone putting strain on the cervical vertebrae. 

 Ideas for moving more and sitting less throughout the day

There is a very helpful website students from the University of New Mexico have created called “Don’t Sit, Get Fit.”  It gives numerous ideas on ways to reduce sitting and increase movement during the day whether at work, school, home or in your lifestyle.  Here is a sampling of those ideas:

·      Take a walk break every time you take a coffee break

·      Stand up and move whenever you have a drink of water at work

·      When watching TV, stand up and move every time a commercial comes on

·      Pace the sidelines at your kids’ athletic games

·      After reading 6 pages of a book get up and move a little

The next time you find yourself sitting longer than you should, stand up and move around – every little bit of activity adds up over the course of a day keeping you more lean, more fit and less likely to develop metabolic syndrome.