Dear Doctors: Like a lot of people, I’ve had to return to the office. At home, I did calls and meetings on the treadmill, walked at lunch and lifted weights during breaks. That’s not possible now. I know sitting is bad for your health. Can you discuss the research? I’d like to share it with my boss.
Dear Reader: Whether you work at a desk, enjoy leisure activities from a couch or mainly use a car to get from one place to another, modern Americans spend more time sitting than at any point in history. For many, the total is well over 10 hours of sitting per day. That’s the number that research associates with a marked increase in cardiac risk. And for bodies built for motion, this shift has proven to be a significant threat to health.
These long stretches of sitting play a significant role in weight gain, obesity, loss of lean muscle mass, rising body fat percentage, increases in abdominal fat, hypertension and poor blood glucose control. These, in turn, translate into an increased risk of developing diabetes, a wide range of cardiovascular diseases, cancers and early death.
Mental health takes a hit as well. A sedentary lifestyle is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression and changes to cognition. Small wonder that the prolonged inactivity that marks modern life has come to be referred to as “sitting disease.”
The newest study into the potential health dangers of being sedentary comes from researchers in Australia. Interested in whether prolonged sitting might be associated with an early death, they analyzed 14 years of health data gathered from 5,836 middle-aged adults. They found the risk of death from any cause was 47% higher among people who were sedentary than those who were active.
We are happy to be able to balance this sobering news with research looking at the question from the other perspective. That is, the positive effects on physical health of being active. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine analyzed the health outcomes of 44,300 women and men whose lifestyles ranged from completely sedentary to moderately active. The researchers found that even brief sessions of daily exercise helped ease the adverse effects of prolonged sitting. However, the greatest benefit came from doing 35 minutes of exercise at moderate intensity per day. Interestingly, additional research shows this doesn’t have to occur all in a single session, but can be broken up into smaller increments if needed.
In another interesting study, researchers at the University of Chicago found that using a small exercise device located under their desks can be beneficial for seated workers. Known as a HOVR, it’s basically a leg swing that keeps the person’s lower body in motion. Workers using the HOVR burned almost 20% more calories than those who sat still, and 7% more calories than those at standing desks.
In an era where 80% of jobs are sedentary, finding ways to be active at work is critical to good health. We hope sharing this information with your boss will prove helpful.
(Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 10960 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1955, Los Angeles, CA, 90024. Owing to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.)
