TRENDING SCIENCE: Get off the couch or chair, before it’s too late!

The way our lives have evolved, there’s less opportunity – and reason – to get up and move around than ever before. Sedentary habits have become a major part of our professional and personal lives. The global pandemic got us to where we are quicker.

According to findings published in the journal ‘JAMA Cardiology’, spending too much time sitting down may drive us to an early grave. A global study co-led by Canada’s Simon Fraser University and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing found that people sitting 6-8 hours a day were at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and even early death.The research team surveyed over 105 000 individuals aged 35 to 70 years living in 21 different countries for an average of 11 years. Findings show that people who spend 6-8 hours sitting down – whether at work, in a car or in front of the TV – had a 12-13 % increased risk of both premature death and heart disease compared to those totalling less than 4 hours. Individuals sitting for more than 8 hours had a 20 % higher risk.

The study also found that a combination of sitting and inactivity accounted for nearly 9 % of all deaths. Obviously, the more you sit, the higher the risk. Those who sat the most and were the least active had the highest risk (50 %). Those who sat the most but were also the most active had a much lower risk (17 %).

“The overarching message here is to minimize how much you sit,” commented author and Simon Fraser University health sciences professor Scott Lear in a news release. “If you must sit, getting in more exercise during other times of the day will offset that risk.” He adds: “For those sitting more than four hours a day, replacing a half hour of sitting with exercise reduced the risk by two per cent.”Even though sitting is a health condition in all countries, it’s more of a problem in low-income and low-middle income countries. Sitting an entire day in higher-income countries is usually connected with better-paying jobs and overall higher socioeconomic status. In these cases, the resources are there to deal with personal health issues or to find time for regular exercise.

“It’s a global problem that has a remarkably simple fix,” concludes Prof. Lear. “Scheduling time to get out of that chair is a great start.”