Even a little bit of movement matters

The take-home message from a mountain of data is that less sitting and more exercise is the goal, and even a little bit of improvement helps. For those who have a desk job, taking short movement breaks throughout the day is protective.

Scientific evidence strongly suggests that the more time a person spends sitting, the higher their risk of death from any cause. Multiple large studies and high-quality data analyses show that regardless of age or health issues, the hours we spend in our office chairs, cars, or on the sofa watching television can literally kill us.

A well-conducted study published in July 2016 in The Lancet looked at a massive amount of data from 16 large studies and including over a million subjects. What they found was that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate physical activity (The CDC has published a table describing many activities ) like walking to work, walking the dog, riding a stationary bike, line dancing, golf or softball, doubles tennis, or coaching sports eliminates the risk of death related to sitting, even from sitting for more than eight hours per day.

Can’t get in an hour of these types of activities per day? Just 25 minutes of moderate activity is somewhat protective, even for people who sit for eight or more hours per day. Other studies have suggested that exercise can be broken up and spread out throughout the day and still be beneficial. One study found that even hourly breaks of light activity decreased measurable damage to our arteries.

Time spent sitting was analyzed separately from time spent sitting and watching television. TV time is associated with even greater risk of death, and exercise was not as protective. Even more than an hour per day of moderate activity did not eliminate the risks associated with five or more hours per day of zoning in front of the tube. Why the extra negative effect of TV watching? The authors hypothesize that people are more likely to get up and walk around at work than they are while watching TV. In addition, people tend to watch TV in the evening after eating dinner, which may have negative effects on our blood sugars and fat metabolism. Or, perhaps people are prompted to snack on unhealthy foods during those commercials breaks. Watching large number of hours of television? Consider an exercise bike or a treadmill, place it in front of the screen.

Whether it’s sitting in an office chair or watching TV, those who get less than five minutes of moderate activity per day fare the worst, and the longer they sit, the higher their risk of death from any cause – be it heart disease or cancer.

For more information see: exercise recommendations for patients with diabetes.