IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Backside Downside? Too Much Sitting Killing Us Slowly: Study

Too many hours spent on our buns elevates our average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, researchers reported Monday.
Get more newsLiveon

You might NOT want to sit down for this.

Too many hours spent on our buns — typing, gabbing, reading or rooting — elevates our average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, Canadian researchers reported Monday following a painstaking review of 47 studies that explored the still life.

The findings revealed two truths. First, this is about cumulative, daily time in the saddle, whether that's your desk chair, couch, plane seat or porch swing. Some people who sat for fewer than eight hours total each day were shown to have a 14 percent lower risk for eventually getting sick enough to be hospitalized. Second, mixing in regular exercise can erase some of the damage — even if you're still generally sitting your life away.

"Sedentary time was associated with a 30 percent lower relative risk for all-cause mortality among those with high levels of physical activity as compared with those with low levels of physical activity," the author reported. Their meta-analysis was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Ideally, adults should log at least 150 minutes of weekly physical activity "in bouts of 10 minutes or more," the authors wrote.

IN-DEPTH:

-- Bill Briggs