Despite the growing awareness about the importance of physical exercise for health, a new comprehensive review, “Physiology of Sedentary Behavior,” intensifies the call to minimize time spent sitting.
Published in Physiological Reviews, the study explores how sedentary behavior negatively affects health, including risks such as high blood pressure, increased body fat, poor vascular function, and heightened blood glucose and insulin levels.
Beyond Just Exercising
The new research moves beyond the often-heard advice to “exercise more” and adds nuance: it isn’t just about how much you exercise, but also about how much time you spend sitting.
Professor David Dunstan, Head of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Physical Activity Laboratory, suggests that a critical question— “How much time do you spend sitting?”—should be included in any healthcare discussion about physical activity.
“So many of us think that a short walk or jog after a long day of sitting is enough for good health, but that’s a misconception,” Dunstan said.
“The benefits of physical activities are dramatically reduced if you’re spending large amounts of time seated.”
Breaking Up Sedentary Time
Dunstan stresses the importance of interspersing physical activity throughout the day, not just doing a workout and thinking you’re done.
“If you’ve sat at your desk for nine hours and then go for a jog, that run’s benefits are seriously curtailed by the long sedentary period,” he explained.
By breaking up long periods of sitting with short bouts of movement, individuals can “restart the body’s engine” and significantly lower the health risks associated with sedentary behavior.
A New Approach to Healthcare
This review aims to change how healthcare providers talk about physical activity and sedentary behavior.
The goal is to introduce a more evidence-based risk identification matrix into clinical practice, to underline how both factors are inextricably linked to health risks.
Dunstan suggests that for people who are physically inactive and sit for prolonged periods, merely reducing sitting time could be a stepping stone toward a more active lifestyle.
The message is clear: In the quest for better health, it’s crucial to sit less, move more, and exercise.
So the next time you find yourself stuck in a chair for hours, remember to get up and move around. Your health will thank you.
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The research findings can be found in Physiological Reviews.
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