Even if you are doing enough physical activity, sitting for more than 7 to 10 hours a day is bad for your health. There is evidence that spending a lot of time being sedentary is linked to an increase in health problems such as: being overweight or obese.
Prolonged sedentary behavior is defined as sitting — whether at a work desk or in front of the TV — for at least six hours per day. For most people who work a typical workday in an office, that's probably on the low side, and even that amount of sitting around seems to extract high costs.
LOW risk indicates sitting less than 4 hours per day. MEDIUM risk indicates sitting 4 to 8 hours per day. HIGH risk indicates sitting 8 to 11 hours per day. VERY HIGH risk indicates sitting more than 11 hours per day.
But when experts analyze the handfuls of studies examining the effects of prolonged sitting, the data shows that sitting for more than eight hours a day can have a serious impact on a person's health.
Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and unhealthy cholesterol levels — that make up metabolic syndrome.
"Spending more than 8 hours sitting per day clearly causes a much higher risk of chronic diseases, including obesity and diabetes. It may be a continuous and progressive association, and the point at which this increase becomes exponential is clearly between 6 and 8 hours of sitting time," Lobelo added.
Poor posture for extended periods of time can lead to neck strain, an inflexible spine, disk damage, and even reduced brain function. Being sedentary for a long time slows the natural processes occurring with proper posture, such as the release of brain- and mood-enhancing chemicals from the brain.
Standing doesn't do much to lower your risk of heart disease, and standing for too long can actually harm your health. However, if you find the right balance between standing and sitting throughout the day, using an adjustable standing desk at work is better than just sitting.
It is thought excessive sitting slows the metabolism – which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and metabolise fat – and may cause weaker muscles and bones. Research on astronauts in the early 1970s found life in zero gravity was linked with accelerated bone and muscle loss and ageing.
But don't pat yourself on the back thinking you've solved all of your health problems just because you're standing all day. Unfortunately, standing for 12 hours in front of your workstation will only make you marginally healthier in the long run because you are still sedentary.
“The younger you are, the faster your body can rebound with the proper posture, exercise, and overall healthy lifestyle.” The solutions aren't complicated—just as becoming sedentary caused all these problems, getting more movement into your life will help turn back the clock.
Some examples of sedentary behavior include television viewing, playing video games, using a computer, sitting at school or work, and sitting while commuting (Figure 1) [8].
Other research has linked prolonged sitting or other sedentary behavior to diabetes, poor heart health, weight gain, depression, dementia, and multiple cancers. It's a habit that seems to start early.
Sedentary behaviors, activities spent sitting, or lying down during waking hours, are of significant public health importance. Television-viewing (TV-viewing) hours and total hours sitting are common self-report measures of sedentary behaviors.
Sitting or lying down for too long increases your risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Too much sitting can also be bad for your mental health. Being active is not as hard as you think.
There are a few good reasons why we should consider standing more often, among them lower blood sugar levels, lower risk of heart disease and less stress and fatigue than those who sit for eight hours or more each day. “Standing has a significantly larger impact on our longevity than sitting.
There are a lot of causes for standing problems, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other related health conditions. It is useful for your loved one to talk to a doctor about this issue. A doctor can advise you and your loved one on appropriate physical therapy.
The strategy that worked best was five minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting. This strategy also had a dramatic effect on how the volunteers' bodies responded to large meals, producing a 58% reduction in blood pressure spikes compared with sitting all day.
"There have been some studies that measured the amount of pressure on the discs," says Dr. Atlas. "Not surprisingly, the pressure is lowest when you're lying down." But there is more pressure on the discs when you're sitting than when you're standing.
Sitting disease is the term used to link the 34 chronic conditions that are commonly associated with lack of activity or excess sitting. For seniors in particular, sitting disease can be an issue due to some of the physical effects of aging which can make it more difficult to stay active.
When researchers strapped activity monitors on nearly 8,000 adults 45 and older, they found that sitting for 12 or more hours a day increased the odds of early death regardless of exercise habits. And the risk was especially high if chair time was in uninterrupted stretches of 60 to 90 minutes, says Keith Diaz, Ph.