Tuesday, November 19, 2024 -New research has shown that Sitting at your desk all day may put you at greater risk for heart disease –– even if you work out in your spare time
“Our
findings really emphasize the importance of avoiding excess sitting… whether or
not you’re physically active,” said first study author Dr. Ezim Ajufo, a
cardiology fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Researchers
looked at data from nearly 90,000 people who wore an accelerometer for a week
and compared their sedentary and active time with later diagnoses of conditions
like stroke, heart attack and heart failure in later years, according to the
study published over the weekend in the Journal of the American College of
Cardiology.
Not only
was more sedentary time associated with greater risk for cardiovascular
disease, but the data was able to show a general guideline for what might count
as too much sitting, according to the study.
While
there is a general understanding that sitting too much is likely bad for your
health, there’s a need for more research to understand the exact risks and the
guidelines for what qualifies as too much sitting, said Dr. Keith Diaz,
associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical
Center.
This study
was particularly helpful in investigating sitting because of its large sample
size and the methodology it employed, Diaz said.
“We would
really recommend that as many people as possible avoid sitting more than 10.6
hours a day,” Ajufo said. “That’s not a hard and fast threshold, but we think
it’s a reasonable first step for guidelines and public health intervention.”
The data
was part of the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource
that follows people long-term. The sample was largely White and of European
ancestry, which means that it doesn’t totally represent the US population,
Ajufo said.
While the
study can’t prove that the sitting was the cause of the heart disease, Diaz
added that it makes sense that sitting too much of the day would take a
toll. Diaz said.
Muscles
are very important for regulating blood sugar and fat levels in the blood, he
added. To do their job well, muscles need movement.
“Taking
movement breaks is a way to give your muscles the stimulation they need to do
their jobs, and it doesn’t take much,” Diaz said.
A bike or
treadmill desk may help, The important thing is to add movement into your day
in a way that makes sense for you and your schedule, Diaz added. He recommended
getting up and walking for just a few minutes every half hour to hour or when
you finish one task before moving to the next.
Unfortunately,
the data suggested a good workout at the end of the day won’t necessarily undo
the problems caused by long bouts of sitting, Ajufo said.
“Sometimes
we think we can completely make up for some of the unhealthy behaviors we have
… by going out and going for a run,” she said. “What we can say from the
findings is that moderate to vigorous physical activity –– so that’s running, a
brisk walk –– is not sufficient to neutralize the harmful effects of sitting.”
“You’re
still better off than the person who sat all day then didn’t exercise,” he
said.
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