Spending most of the day sitting can cause more than stiffness. It may increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and premature death, even if you exercise regularly. Find out why and what you can do about it.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
The Claim: Prolonged sitting is as harmful as smoking.
Many of us spend lots of time sitting… a practice some consider so hazardous that they call it “the new smoking.” While spending hours a day on your duff may indeed pose a health risk, equating it with smoking is a stretch.
Research involving bus employees in London hinted at the dangers of prolonged sitting more than 60 years ago.
The drivers, who spent most of their days seated, had more heart attacks than the conductors, who were on their feet.
Since then a number of studies have found that sitting more than 7 hours a day is associated with a greater risk of not only heart disease, but also diabetes, cancer, and premature death. The longer you sit, the higher the risk.
For men who sit the most, the number of excess deaths is estimated to be 190 per year per 100,000 people. Now compare that to smoking: for men who smoke the most, the number of excess deaths is more than 2600. A whopping difference, which is similar for women.
When it comes to heart disease and cancer, smoking also poses a much bigger risk. And it also causes a long list of other health problems, from lung disease to tooth loss, that have not been linked to sitting.
There’s also the fact that in some studies, only sitting to watch TV is associated with increased health risks, while sitting at work is not.
By contrast, any smoking, even just occasional or a few cigarettes a day, has been found to cause harm.
This is not to say you should ignore warnings about sitting. If you’re seated for long stretches, stand up and walk around periodically. Also it’s yet another reason to get regular exercise, which may counteract some of the negative effects of sitting. But those who say it’s as bad as smoking… don’t have a leg to stand on.
Helping you be a healthy skeptic, I’m Robert Davis.