Too Much Sitting Linked to Chronic Health Problems

[onehandle]

Researchers from Australia and Kansas State University said their findings have implications for office workers, truck drivers and other people who regularly sit for long periods of time. To reduce the risk of chronic disease, the study authors concluded that people should sit less, and move more. "We know that with very high confidence that more physically active people do better with regard to chronic disease compared with less physically active people, but we should also be looking at reducing sitting," Richard Rosenkranz, assistant professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, said in a university news release.

"A lot of office jobs that require long periods of sitting may be hazardous to your health because of inactivity and the low levels of energy expenditure," he explained. The study involved over 63,000 Australian men from New South Wales, ranging in age from 45 to 65. The researchers questioned the men about whether or not they had various chronic diseases. The men also reported how many hours they spent sitting down each day.

The study revealed that the men who sat for four hours or less daily were much less likely to have a chronic condition -- such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure -- than those who sat for more than four hours each day. And the men who sat for at least six hours daily were at significantly greater risk for diabetes, the researchers noted. The number of chronic diseases reported increased along with sitting time. This was true even after the investigators took the men's physical activity level, age, income, education, weight and height into account.

"We saw a steady stair-step increase in risk of chronic diseases the more participants sat. The group sitting more than eight hours clearly had the highest risk," said Rosenkranz. "It's not just that people aren't getting enough physical activity, but it's that they're also sitting too much," he said. "And on top of that, the more you sit, the less time you have for physical activity."

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/diabetes/HealthDay673647_20130221_Too_Much_Sitting_Linked_to_Chronic_Health_Problems.html

[Nay]

1. Exactly what are office workers supposed to do with this information? Quit? It would be

nice to know what they really mean by "sitting too much." After all, office workers are often up and about to get coffee, report to other offices, go to lunch, etc., so it seems that that sort of activity doesn't count. And when we get home, are we are supposed to stay on our feet? What if we like reading, quilting, sewing, etc., as hobbies? Many common hobbies are sitting hobbies -- we're supposed to give them up to stand or walk around until we go to bed? It's just undoable.

I had an office job for 15 years, got diabetes and breast cancer at the end, and I didn't consider myself to have 'sat all day,' because I was up and about a couple of times an hour. But most office workers are up and down that much. Seems that amount of activity doesn't help. So, what next? Are we going to get employers to somehow not make their employees sit? I sure know that I could not have gotten up and walked around for 15 minutes of every hour (or whatever would be enough) and still keep my job. I realize there are desks like treadmills with tables, but who's going to make employers supply them? Nobody. And, of course, it will be all the individual's fault they got diabetes, heart disease, etc., cuz they sat too much. ARRRRRGH.