Get up, stand up, for your health: A little exercise offsets a lot of sitting

A solid body of scientific evidence strongly suggests that the more time a person spends sitting, the higher their risk of death from any cause. Multiple large studies and high-quality data analyses show that regardless of age or health issues, the hours we spend in our office chairs, cars, or on the sofa watching television can literally kill us. But if our jobs require us to be at a desk or behind the wheel for long shifts, what can we do? Are we destined to die earlier than landscapers, baristas, and construction workers? Should we all quit and seek an occupation that will allow us to be on our feet instead? Maybe I should have studied the culinary arts… Not so, suggests a very well-conducted study published in July in The Lancet. These authors took a fresh look at a massive load of data from 16 large studies and including over a million subjects. They aggregated the information, re-ran the analyses, and corrected for individual and population variations. What they found was that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate physical activity like walking to work, walking the dog, riding a stationary bike, line dancing, golf or softball, doubles tennis, or coaching sports eliminates the risk of death related to sitting, even from sitting for more than eight hours per day. Can’t get in an hour or more of these types of activities per day? Just 25 minutes of moderate activity is somewhat protective, even for people who sit for eight or more hours per day. The way physical activity en...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Exercise and Fitness Health Healthy Aging Prevention Source Type: news