It’s time to turn off the TV, get up off the couch, and start moving! A new study found that sitting for more than three hours a day can cut two years off your life expectancy, even if you exercise regularly, and watching TV for more than two hours a day will knock another 1.4 years off.
The study published in the online journal BMJ Open isn’t the first to point out the ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle; there have been a number of startling discoveries in the past few years, with researchers urging the importance of standing, walking, and trying to move as much as possible throughout the day. 30 minutes of physical exercise a day is not going to counter 23.5 hours of sitting.
Whether “you’re physically active and meet the exercise guidelines, or if you’re not active, sitting is bad,” says Peter Katzmarzyk, professor of epidemiology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and lead author.
Katzmarzyk and his colleagues analyzed data from previous studies that asked participants about their sedentary habits including how much time they spent sitting, watching TV or using the computer screen. They found that worldwide people spend about 300 minute of their day sitting, but many people spend much longer on their rear, especially those with 9-5 desk jobs.
But just 3 hours, or 180 minutes of sitting (about half the time the average person sits) can take 2 years off your life, shortening life expectancy almost as much as smoking can!
“What the results mean is that we got everyone in the U.S. to sit less, our population life expectancy would be two years higher, so instead of living to 78.5, we would be expected to live to 80.5 years old,” says Katzmarzyk. “That’s
a really big deal.”
For tips on moving more throughout the day (even at the office!) see:
Getting Those 10,000 Steps a Day: Every Step Counts
