Three Reasons to Take A Stand

By opting to stand, instead of sitting for an extended period of time, and increasing physical activity throughout the day, we can improve health and quality of life while reducing the risks for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and colon cancer, among others.  Richard R. Rosenkranz, from Kansas State University (Kansas, USA), and colleagues studied data collected on 194,545 men and women, ages 45 to 106, who were enrolled in Australia’s 45 and Up Study.  Positing that prolonged sitting reduces muscle contractions and shuts off the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which helps to process fat into energy, these study authors write that their data adds to the evidence to support efforts “to increase [physical activity] and decrease sitting time toward the achievement of better population health and the pursuit of successful aging. “  Among postmenopausal women, Rebecca Seguin, from Cornell University (New York, USA), and colleagues found that those with the highest amounts of sedentary time – defined as sitting and resting, excluding sleeping – died earlier than their most active peers. Further, the researchers found that women with more than 11 hours of daily sedentary time faced a 12% increase in all-cause premature mortality, as compared with the most energetic group – those with four hours or less of inactivity. The sedentary group also upped their odds for death due to cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and cancer by 13, 27 and 21%, respectively.  Importantly, the team also observed that excess sedentary time tends to make it harder to regain physical strength and function.  These study authors warn that: “There [is] a linear relationship between greater amounts of sedentary time and mortality risk.”  Among men, sitting for long periods increases heart failure risk in men – even for those who exercise regularly. Deborah Rohm Young, from Kaiser Permanante (California, USA), and colleagues followed a racially diverse group of 84,170 men, ages 45 to 69 years, without heart failure. Exercise levels were calculated in METs (metabolic equivalent of task), a measure of the body's energy use. Sedentary levels were measured in hours. After an average of nearly eight years of follow-up, researchers found that those men with low levels of physical activity were 52% more likely to develop heart failure than men with high physical activity levels, even after adjusting for differences in sedentary time. Further, outside of work, men who spent five or more hours a day sitting were 34%  more likely to develop heart failure than men who spent no more than two hours a day sitting, regardless of how much they exercised. The team also reveraled that heart failure risk more than doubled in men who sat for at least five hours a day and got little exercise, as compared to men who were very physically active and sat for two hours or less a day. These authors urge that: “Both physical activity and sedentary time may be appropriate intervention targets for preventing [heart failure].”