Physical Activity May Offset Sitting Risks

Physical activity for one hour every day may eliminate the health risks associated with sitting for eight hours.

When you drive to work, sit in meetings and work on a computer, it’s easy to spend at least eight hours sitting. The problem is, prolonged sitting has been associated with a higher risk of early death. Not getting physical activity is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, studies have shown.

Here’s some good news. For those whose jobs require sitting, physical activity may be the solution. It may only take an hour every day, too.

Those are the findings of a new analysis that sorted through 16 studies that include one million people. Researchers found 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day cut the increased risk of early death associated with prolonged sitting..

“There has been a lot of concern about the health risks associated with today’s more sedentary lifestyles,” says Professor Ulf Ekelund from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. “Our message is a positive one: it is possible to reduce – or even eliminate – these risks if we are active enough, even without having to take up sports or go to the gym.

“For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time. For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it’s getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work. An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk.”

To reap the health benefits of exercise, people had to exercise at a moderate intensity. Walking 3.5 miles within one hour or cycling 10 miles per hour met the intensity requirements.

Physical activity health benefits

Chances are, most people currently do not get this much physical activity. Only one in four people in the study clocked an hour of daily physical activity.

Ekelund and other researchers also found that the greatest risk of early death was for people who were completely physically inactive. It didn’t matter how much time they spent sitting. Not getting any exercise was a greater health risk than prolonged sitting, according to the analysis published in The Lancet.

People who were physically inactive were 28 to 59 percent more likely to die early compared to those who were most active. It is akin to the risks associated with smoking or having obesity.

So how much exercise does an adult need?

The federal physical activity guidelines recommend getting at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity, aerobic physical activity every week. Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities at a moderate or high intensity on two or more days per week. These exercise should work all the major muscle groups in the body.

Sources: The Lancet news release, University of Cambridge news release, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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