The study, led by Simon Fraser University professor of health sciences Scott Lear and Wei Li of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, is published today in the journal Jama Cardiology. Their study followed an average of 11-year-olds and found that long sitting time was associated with an increased risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease. While sitting was problematic in all countries, it was particularly problematic in low- and lower-middle-income countries. “The dominant message here is to minimize how long you sit,” says Lear. “If you have to sit, most exercise at other times of the day will offset this risk.” Unsurprisingly, those who sat more and were less active had the highest risk – up to 50 percent – while those who sat more but were more active had a significantly lower risk of about 17 percent. “For those who sit for more than four hours a day, replacing a half-hour seat with exercise has reduced the risk by two percent,” notes Lear. “With only one in four Canadians meeting activity guidelines, there is a real opportunity for people here to increase their activity and reduce their chances of dying prematurely and suffering from heart disease.” The study found a specific correlation in lower-income countries, leading researchers to speculate that it may be due to the fact that living in higher-income countries is usually associated with higher socioeconomic status and better-paying jobs. Clinicians need to focus on less sitting and more activity, as it is a low-cost intervention that can have huge benefits, Lear notes. But while clinicians need to get the message across about the active seat, people need to better assess their lifestyle and take their health seriously, Lear adds. “Our study found that the combination of seat and inactivity accounted for 8.8 percent of all deaths, which is close to the contribution of smoking (10.6 percent in the Lear and Li study). “It’s a global problem that has an extremely simple solution. “Scheduling time to get up from this chair is a good start.”
Article title
Association of sedentary living time with mortality and cardiovascular events in high-income, middle-income and low-income countries
Date of publication of the article
15-Jun-2022 Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of the news bulletins published on EurekAlert! with contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
