Sitting 6 hours a day increases your risk of death by 40%

• TA wrote on 2012-02-09 16:30

  Sitting in front of the computer for six hours a day increases your risk of death by 40%.
  
  Sitting down, which most of us do for at least eight hours each day, might be the worst thing we do for our health all day.
  
  We've been preaching the benefits of stand-up desks for a while around here — and no one needs this good news more than social media-obsessed web geeks. A recent medical journal study showed that people who sit for most of their day are 54% more likely to die of a heart attack.
  
  And our readers are receptive to the idea, too. In fact, in a recent poll, three-fourths of you said you already used a stand-up desk or you'd like to try one.
  
  So if you need more convincing, check out these graphically organized stats from Medical Billing and Coding. We like it for the information it contains, but we love it for the Saul Bass, Vertigo-esque graphics.
  
  

  [Image: http://i.minus.com/ibkAXbtyogORKo.jpg]

  
  
  And, in what I would be related I suppose...
  
  

  Every Hour of TV You Watch May Shorten Your Lifespan By 22 Minutes [STUDY]
  
  In case you needed more proof that watching excessive amounts of TV is bad for your health: new research shows that there is a correlation between the amount of time you spend in front of the TV and how long you live.
  
  A study by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia has concluded that, for every hour of television watched after age 25, the average human lifespan drops by 22 minutes. A person who watch six hours of TV per day will, on average, live five years less than people who spent less time on the couch and in front of the television screen. Those are some scary numbers.
  
  The study tracked data from 11,000 Australian participants over the age of 25. It was published earlier this month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
  
  This study doesn’t prove that TV is quietly killing us. It’s more likely that lack of exercise and bad eating habits are shortening the lifespans of TV couch potatoes. A person who spends six hours a day staying active is almost certainly going to live longer than a person who likes to lean back in a recliner watching countless episodes of Judge Judy or Law and Order: SVU.
  
  It’s not just TV watching that’s bad for you, either. We recently learned that sitting in front of the computer for six hours a day increases your risk of death by 40%. And with Americans watching more video than ever, the health problem is growing. That’s why we’re fans of the stand-up desk.
  Source

  
  :spit:
• Cucurbita wrote on 2012-02-09 16:33
  Well I'm dead.
  
  I spend over 10 hours in a chair daily. I actually probably spend less than an hour every day actually moving.
• Mentosftw wrote on 2012-02-09 16:38
  These were the best six hours of my life.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-09 16:53
  Yup.
  
  By that logic, I should have been dead ages ago.
• Mystickskye wrote on 2012-02-09 17:19
  Sitting is widely known to be lousy for your overall health. There are other effects from sitting too, one which is partially alluded to by the sitting angle. Various "normal" ways of sitting supposedly relaxes your core and the weight of your upper body is taken on by your spine which over time can be harmful in different ways because holy crap it's your spine.
  
  It's not sudden by any means but I guess how slow it creeps onto you probably just makes sitting for prolonged periods that much worse.
  
  Mind, some of the presentation is a bit on the side of tabloidism. "Sitting increases risk of death by up to 40%". Not only is there the famous "up to" in there but this is further explained as "Sitting 6+ hours per day makes you up to 40% likelier to die within 15 years than someone who sits less than 3.". So what's the likelihood of death for someone who sits less than 3 hours a day? What can kill you (direct cause, not lead up) within 15 years like that? Surely, there must be other factors to watch out for and other things that can be done as well rather than simply just reducing sitting. A lot of the presentation goes on like that and smells of shock tactics. The later article provides figures on how your lifespan would be reduced compared to others and even points out that it's not exactly nor entirely sitting's fault.
  
  Clearly droves of people aren't dropping dead with the autopsy result being "cause of death: sitting on their fat ass for too long" and so I think an overly puffed up view on the situation isn't in the public's best interest (monsters associated with the chair and TV, really?). Studies do suggest that an overly sedentary lifestyle isn't exactly good for you even if it's not immediately going to put you in a coffin (as with many other well known health risks) so I think it is important to know.
• Claire wrote on 2012-02-09 18:27
  we will all die one day aniways...
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-09 18:28

  Quote from Claire;769046:

  we will all die one day aniways...

  
  
  Yeah, but it's stupid to waste the potential to do productive stuff if you can.
• Cheerios wrote on 2012-02-09 18:31
  im sitting more than 60% of my day and im losing weight
  
  gg science
• Rin wrote on 2012-02-09 18:49

  Quote from Cynic;769047:

  Yeah, but it's stupid to waste the potential to do productive stuff if you can.

  
  
  You can still do productive things while sitting. Like work in those offices divided into cells.
  
  Sedentary/unproductive lifestyles is a better explanation of death than just "sitting".
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-09 18:52

  Quote from Rin;769059:

  You can still do productive things while sitting. Like work in those offices divided into cells.
  
  Sedentary/unproductive lifestyles is a better explanation of death than just "sitting".

  
  
  Not if all you do is sit. You can easily spend a few hours outside and be sure to get in some exercise. It's a sad excuse to say "Oh, well I may as-well sit around and do nothing since I'll die someday anyways."
  
  I'm stuck at home pretty much 24/7 and have health issues that make anything but sitting around uncomfortable, but I still make sure to get outside and do what needs to be done around the house.
• Rin wrote on 2012-02-09 18:56

  Quote from Cynic;769064:

  Not if all you do is sit. You can easily spend a few hours outside and be sure to get in some exercise. It's a sad excuse to say "Oh, well I may as-well sit around and do nothing since I'll die someday anyways."
  
  I'm stuck at home pretty much 24/7 and have health issues that make anything but sitting around uncomfortable, but I still make sure to get outside and do what needs to be done around the house.

  
  
  That's why I said sedentary. One can still sit for 6 hours of whatever and get in 2 hours of exercise. With a good diet too.
  
  What I'm trying to say is, sitting by itself (even for 6 hours) isn't the main factor in having a shorter life span or lazy life.
• Hiccup wrote on 2012-02-09 23:20
  My job consists of me constantly working hard, and running around. I think I'm fine, if I want to relax when I come home.
• ValkyrieHamster wrote on 2012-02-09 23:42
  Hmm, lets see...between work and after work, i'm probably sitting down for a good 14 hours a day. Though that's mainly during the week, on the weekends I'm out and about and hardly spend any time sitting! Yay for Soccer and volleyball.
• Spartaaaaa wrote on 2012-02-10 04:52
  Well at least we don't have a law that forces children to sit in school every day for hours on end... oh wait...
• Scarlet wrote on 2012-02-10 04:55
  [FONT="Times New Roman"]I go to school from 7:00am to 3:00pm. That's over 6 hours a day of sitting... SCHOOL IS BAD FOR YOU![/FONT]