OK everyone - even if you sit all day at a desk job, the research is clear: try to get up and stretch or move a little every 30 minutes. Researchers followed middle-aged and older adults over a 5 1/2 year period and found that total sitting time (sedentary behavior) and prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary behavior were associated with in increased risk for death from any cause (all-cause mortality). But..adults who kept most of their sitting bouts to less than 30 minutes had the lowest risk of death. The researchers felt that getting up and moving every half hour seems to protect against the health risks (cardiometabolic effects) from just sitting and sitting and sitting. Are you moving yet?
From Science Daily: Long sitting periods may be just as harmful as daily total
A new study finds that it isn't just the amount of time spent sitting, but also the way in which sitting time is accumulated during the day, that can affect risk of early death. The study, published online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, found that adults who sit for one to two hours at a time without moving have a higher mortality rate than adults who accrue the same amount of sedentary time in shorter bouts.
The researchers used hip-mounted activity monitors to objectively measure inactivity during waking time over a period of seven days in 7,985 black and white adults over age 45. (The participants were taking part in the REGARDS study, a national investigation of racial and regional disparities in stroke.)
On average, sedentary behavior accounted for 77 percent of the participants' waking hours, equivalent to more than 12 hours per day. Over a median follow-up period of four years, 340 of the participants died. Mortality risk was calculated for those with various amounts of total sedentary time and various sedentary patterns. Those with the greatest amount of sedentary time -- more than 13 hours per day -- and who frequently had sedentary bouts of at least 60 to 90 consecutive minutes had a nearly two-fold increase in death risk compared with those who had the least total sedentary time and the shortest sedentary bouts.
The researchers also found that participants who kept most of their sitting bouts to less than 30 minutes had the lowest risk of death. "So if you have a job or lifestyle where you have to sit for prolonged periods of time, we suggest taking a movement break every half hour. This one behavior change could reduce your risk of death, although we don't yet know precisely how much activity is optimal," Dr. Diaz said. [Original study.]