Sitting impacts survival - study
Tuesday July 10th, 2012
Spending too much time sitting down in front of the television or at work may shorten life, according to research published today.
US
researchers found that Americans could add two years to their life by
limiting their daily time sitting down to three hours.
Cutting it to two hours could add another year and a half, they found.
Writing in the BMJ Open, researchers report using national surveys to calculate how much time people spend sitting down.
Natasha Stewart <! a nurse> with the British Heart Foundation said the findings might not apply to the UK.
She said: “However, it does highlight what we already know about sedentary behaviour being a risk factor for developing heart disease. And recent UK guidelines suggested we should all minimise the time we spend sitting down.
“We all need to be regularly active to keep our hearts healthy."
Researcher Dr Peter Katzmarzyk, of the Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, USA, said US adults spent 55 per cent of their day in "sedentary pursuits".
He said: "A significant shift in behaviour change at the population level is required to make demonstrable improvements in life expectancy."
Sedentary behaviour and life expectancy in the USA: a cause-deleted life table analysis by Peter T Katzmarzyk et al Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System. Katzmarzyk PT, Lee I-M. BMJ Open July 10 2012; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-000828
Tags: Fitness | Heart Health | North America | UK News
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