What are the risks of sitting too much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome \u2013 a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels. Too much sitting also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One study compared adults who spent less than two hours a day in front of the TV or other screen-based entertainment with those who logged more than four hours a day of recreational screen time. Those with greater screen time had:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The increased risk was separate from other traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as smoking or high blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any extended sitting \u2013 such as behind a desk at work or behind the wheel \u2013 can be harmful. What\u2019s more, spending a few hours a week at the gym or otherwise engaged in moderate or vigorous activity doesn\u2019t seem to significantly offset the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sitting for long periods has not only linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease \u2013 and now there\u2019s new evidence that it may also increase the risk of liver disease, according to a new study from South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the study, researchers found that people who sat for 10 or more hours daily had a 9 percent greater risk of developing a condition called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)<\/a> than those who spent less than five hours a day sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Physical activity also played a role in people\u2019s risk of NAFLD: Those who were physically active were 20 percent less likely to develop the disease compared with those who were inactive, according to the study published on September 15 2017 in the Journal of Hepatology. [How Many Calories Am I Burning? (Infographic)<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe amount of time spent doing sedentary activity<\/a> such as sitting at a computer or watching TV has increased dramatically in recent years,\u201d Dr. Seungho Ryu, professor of occupational and environmental medicine at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in South Korea and lead author of the study said. Now, \u201cmore than half of the average person\u2019s waking day involves sedentary activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the study, the researchers looked at more than 139,000 Korean men and women who reported their levels of physical activity and sitting time. NAFLD was confirmed using ultrasounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The average age of the participants was 39.9 years, according to the study. Because the people in the study were generally healthy \u2013 young and middle-age men and women \u2013 it\u2019s unlikely that other health problems can explain the link between sitting time and physical activity with NAFLD, Ryu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study suggests that regular physical activity, even at a high intensity, does not fully protect against the risks associated with prolonged sitting, he said. If the results of the study are confirmed, it will be important to encourage people to both increase their physical activity and reduce their sitting time to reduce the risk of developing NAFLD, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even doing light activity<\/a> instead of sitting may help reduce the risk of NAFLD, Ryu added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur body is designed to move, and it is not surprising that sedentary behavior, characterized by low muscle activity, has a direct impact on physiology,\u201d Michael Trenell, a professor of metabolism and lifestyle medicine at Newcastle University in England, wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study in the journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n