Want to live longer? Want to know one simple thing you can do? Stop sitting.
At a TED Conference in 2013, author and business writer Nilofer Merchant coined the phrase “sitting is the new smoking” and according to statistics, she’s correct: sitting is a silent killer.
And, what’s worse is that because everyone does it we don’t think of it that way.
Spending long hours sitting on the job has already been established as a potential health hazard, and many health experts and the media are likening sitting to smoking in terms of overall health hazards. Is sitting as bad as smoking, probably not, but prolonged sitting can set you up for a host of health issues which are preventable with a few simple steps . . . literally.
People in the United States spend more time sitting than they do sleeping. In fact, we spend 9.3 hours sitting compared to 7.7 sleeping. And, our sedentary lifestyle contributes to 10 percent of the breast and colon cancers, 7 percent of type 2 diabetes, and 6 percent of heart disease. Considering that heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, that’s a very large number.
Prolonged sitting appears to have detrimental metabolic consequences, disrupting the processes that break down fats and sugars in the body. Recent studies suggest that there is a direct link between a sedentary lifestyle and several key risk factors for insulin resistance, inflammation and increased body weight. According to statistics, older adults are the worst offenders with almost three-quarters living a sedentary lifestyle and more than four in ten getting no physical activity at all.
The answer is to become more physically active. Exercising more and sitting less were positively linked to improved overall health and quality of life. But it can be difficult to be adequately active when a person has to be parked at a desk or in front of a computer, or sitting in front of a TV, for eight or more hours per day.
Even if you currently exercise regularly, recent research published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure suggests that men who exercise regularly experienced an increased risk of heart failure if they continued to spend long periods of time sitting. Outside of work, men who spent five or more hours a day sitting were 34 percent more likely to develop heart failure than men who spent no more than two hours a day sitting, regardless of how much they exercised, according to the American Heart Association. Heart failure risk more than doubled in men who sat for at least five hours a day and got little exercise compared to men who were very physically active and sat for two hours or less a day.
The answer is simple – get up and exercise. Exercising more and sitting less is positively linked to improved overall quality of health and life. Doctors also say that you do not have to hit the gym for a half hour or more, that even 10 minute intervals of physical activity three times a day can work toward improving overall health and risk factors for other diseases. While not a substitute for exercise, doctors recommend that you get up from your desk or TV and take a walk around the office or your home every hour.
So get up from that computer or TV . . . go for a walk . . . move around . . . and realize the
benefits. It’s just that simple.
For more information on your heart health go to cooperhealth.org/heart