Reducing your ‘Sedentary Time’ could literally save your life.

Across Europe and the USA there is evidence that we are spending an increasing amount of time sitting as against standing, walking, running or just moving. Many of us sit for long periods at work or in school, or travelling between the two. Even when we are relaxing this often involves sitting to read, watch TV or catch up with email or social media.

The dangers of sitting too much are dose related. The longer we sit each day, particularly if these periods are prolonged or uninterrupted, the higher the risk of death due to a cardiovascular event (stroke or heart attack) or other causes. In fact the World Health Organisation has calculated that sedentary behaviour kills as many people worldwide as smoking or obesity!

For example in one study, watching TV for less than 2 hours a day, resulted in a 46 percent reduced risk of dying from any cause and an 80 percent less chance of dying from heart disease compared to those watching TV for more than 4 hours a day.

If the sitting is done in a car rather than just watching TV, but adds up to more than 23 hours a week (just over 3 hours a day), there is a 64% greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who sit for less than 2 hours per day.

Even if we consider ourselves to be active because we reach recommended levels for moderately vigorous, or even more intense exercise each week, we may be undoing the benefits by sitting too much. Hence the term ‘active couch potato’ where the adverse effects of ‘the couch’ part of the equation, particularly if this more than 4 hours per day, outweigh the benefits of the active part!

This was supported by the findings in a study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2013, which followed a group of people aged 60 and over for more than 12 years. Irrespective of the amount of exercise they took, there was an independent and added benefit for those who carried out non-exercise physical activity such as gardening and more general DIY.

Inactivity not only increases the risk of heart disease but also that of diabetes, colon and breast cancer. Sedentary behaviour adversely affects our waistline and weight, systolic blood pressure, glucose metabolism, HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

This is not just an issue for older people or those who are disabled and either find or perceive that being active or taking more exercise is going to be difficult. Over 40 percent of people worldwide spend more than four hours of waking time being sedentary. In the USA adults spend an average of 55% of their waking hours being sedentary and this rises to 60 percent for those 60 and over.

Both ends of the age spectrum are affected. In North America, even children and teenagers spend between 40 and 60 percent of their time in sedentary pursuits. The prevalence increases sharply for those in their 70s when three quarters are described as sedentary. Many older adults spend more than 10 hours a day of ‘waking time’ either sitting or lying down.

What is your sedentary time score?

Q 1. During a usual day and night how many hours do you spend sitting?

(Include work, eating, driving, riding in a car, bus, train, plane, sitting watching TV, reading a book, talking to friends etc.)

Q 2. During a usual day and night how many hours do you spend lying down or sleeping in bed?

(Include time spent sleeping, resting or napping, and lying down watching TV)

Q 3. How many hours do you usually spend sleeping in bed at night?

Total Sedentary Time derived from: adding the hours from Q1 and Q2 and taking away the hours you spend sleeping at night (from Q3).

How did you score? Did the answers surprise you?

There is no right or wrong answer, only increasing risk related to how much more than 2 hours of sedentary time you pursue per day.

If you want to quantify activity/sedentary and sleep time more accurately you could consider buying or borrowing an accelerometer or using the app on one of the latest cellphones. Using this for one week may not only be enlightening, it may also be the trigger to changing your sedentary habits and making you feel and look healthier.

10 Tips for reducing sitting time.

Decrease the time sitting using a computer or the equivalent. How? Take a standing break every so often. Go for a short walk or get a helping of fresh air particularly if this involves going up or down stairs. There is evidence that our brains as well as our bodies benefit from these enforced breaks.
Decrease the time sitting watching TV. How? Be selective about what you watch; pre-record programs that are of interest and utilise the fast-forwarding function if available. Remember watching TV can be a mindless activity so deliberately take a standing or moving break, even if this is just during the advertisement periods. Health risks increase if we also habitually carry out mindless snacking or alcohol consumption whilst watching TV.
Stand to talk on the telephone or whilst on a train or bus.
Build in a stop time to your journey if driving or travelling by car and aim to include a short walk or stand whilst taking refreshments.
Walk or cycle for regular journeys that you habitually use transport for whether this is for work or going shopping.
Use the stairs more frequently whether in work, shopping or in a hotel.
‘Walk and talk’, whether you are having a conversation with a colleague, friend or family member.
Consider how many non-exercise physical activities that you could plan to do during the week. Some of these may be as mundane as household chores. Some may actually turn out to be more enjoyable than you thought. Make contact with someone; go for a walk; get out in the garden etc.
Start to build in new routines which result in you moving, moving more often and moving more regularly and frequently. Even if you already meet the minimum requirements for moderately vigorous exercise each week and even if at the moment you don’t feel like it! Remember the benefits of being more physically active not only include your physical, mental and emotional well-being but also how well you look.
Consider the advice in the ‘Moving towards a life I love’ series. Make being active a habit by considering the advice in The Habit for Habit series.