Sitting Is Bad for Your Health, But Not All Types of Sitting Were Created Equal

The countless recent studies and articles about the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle likely haven’t sat well with desk workers, for whom standing desks and walking meetings are some of the only ways to avoid near-constant sitting during the workday. But a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has some encouraging findings for the desk-bound. Sitting at work, it says, may not be as bad for your heart and longevity as sitting and watching television during your free time. “There’s been a lot of talk about how sitting is the new smoking,” says first author Jeanette Garcia, an assistant professor of sport and exercise science at the University of Central Florida. “But is all sitting created equal? The results from our study suggest that, no, perhaps it’s leisure-time sitting that’s more of a risk than occupational sitting.” For the study, almost 3,600 African American adults reported the amount of time they’d spent sitting at work, watching television and exercising over the previous year. They also provided demographic, lifestyle and health-history information. The researchers monitored the participants’ health over eight years, during which 129 had a cardiovascular issue and 205 died. After adjusting for health and lifestyle factors, the researchers found that “often or always” sitting at work was not associated with a heightened risk of death and heart disease. But thos...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized embargoed study Exercise/Fitness Source Type: news