Walk 60 minutes to neutralize 8 hours of sitting in the office
Eight hours or more of sitting in the office is a risk to your life that is second only to smoking.
To cut the health risk of prolonged sitting it is advisable to spare an hour for a walk, rather a brisk walk.
Scientists analysing data from more than 1 million people found that it takes about 60 to 75 minutes of ‘moderate intensity’ exercise to undo the damage of sitting for at least eight hours a day.
The research found that not exercising and sitting all day is as much a risk to health as being obese or smoking.
The risk of watching television for 5 hours or more a day after sitting at the office is so high even the hour of exercise is not enough to reverse the damage.
‘We cannot stress enough the importance of exercising, whether it’s getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work,’ said Ulf Ekelund of the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences in Norway, one of the study’s authors.
Studies have found that prolonged sitting can raise the chances of heart disease, various cancers and an earlier death.
Physical inactivity costs the global economy $67.5 billion a year in healthcare and productivity losses, the study said.
In the new research, 13 papers with data on factors including how long people spend sitting, their physical activity levels and their television-watching habits were analyzed. The majority of studies included people older than age 45.
Researchers found that people with the highest levels of moderate physical activity – 60 to 75 minutes daily – erased the higher risk of death linked to being seated for more than eight hours a day. But even that exercise regime was not enough to counter the hazards of also watching more than five hours of television a day.
The conclusions suggest that current guidelines from WHO – which recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day – may not be enough to offset the dangers of sitting.
Lars Bo Andersen, who co-authored an accompanying commentary, called the new research ‘very convincing,’ explaining that too much sitting increases the risk of problems including diabetes and heart disease because it can make insulin levels spike and might slow the body’s metabolism.
Andersen said watching too much television was probably even worse than sitting at the office all day because it likely includes other unhealthy habits. ‘A lot of people don’t just watch TV, they eat fatty snacks at the same time,’ said Andersen, of Sogn and Fjordane University College in Norway .
In some cultures, Andersen said, it’s easier than others to squeeze in an hour of exercise every day, noting that in Denmark and much of Scandinavia, about half of all people either cycle or walk to work.
Andersen also commented that getting the recommended amount of physical activity shouldn’t be overly arduous and doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym for an intense workout.
To cut risk of early death, it is good to simply brisk walk for about 60 minutes daily or most days of the week and to reduce television watching to a minimum!
