Monday, May 11, 2009

Sitting Time Does Matter


Does the amount of time you spend sitting really matter?

Last month’s journal of the American College of Sports Medicine Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise published a study from Canada that studied the relationship between sitting and mortality of all causes including heart disease and cancer.

The researchers studied 17,000 people over 12 years and put them in categories according to how many hours per day they spend sitting. They also factored in leisure time from physical activity, smoking status and alcohol consumption.

The study concluded that the longer subjects spent sitting per day, the higher their risk of mortality from all causes except cancer. These findings were true independent of leisure time physical activity. Even if you work out on a daily basis, sitting for many hours during the day can significantly alter your life expectancy.

So what’s the take home message: move around as much as possible during the day, even if you exercise on a regular basis. It could lengthen your life and lower your risk of disease.

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