To live longer replace one hour of sitting with walking daily
When it comes to staying healthy, the advice is endless - drink more water, exercise more, take your vitamins, eat oily fish, drink more coffee, drink less coffee. But a new study appears to simplify the key to long-term health; it suggests that by replacing 1 hour of sitting each day with walking, we can decrease our chance of early death by 12-14.
The study, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, was conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia and included over 200,000 adults who were middle-aged or older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity - such as brisk walking - every week, as well as muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days each week.
Although 150 minutes may seem like a lot of time, doing it in 10-minute increments over the course of the week counts, too. Prof. Emmanuel Stamatakis, lead study author, notes that previous studies established the benefits of adequate physical activity or sleep and the risks of too much sitting, but this is the first to look at what happens when we replace one activity with an equal amount of another.
He and his team point to work hours, which account for over 50per cent of total waking time, adding that workers in many professions spend on average more than 70per cent of their work time sitting.
Sedentary activity, physical activity and sleep are all part of a 24-hour day, but the researchers say previous investigations have largely examined each behavior without considering what time-dependent behaviors are being displaced. Their latest study focuses on the effects of replacing the behaviors and compares this with health outcomes in general, including mortality.
To conduct their research, the team used statistical modeling of health data from study subjects who took part in the 45 and Up Study, which spanned a 4-year period. The team found that swapping just 1 hour of sitting each day with standing results in a 5per cent decrease in risk of early death. Additionally, for those who were not getting enough sleep, swapping just 1 hour of sitting with sleeping each day resulted in a 6 per cent decrease in risk of early death.
Interestingly, when 1 hour of walking or exercising each day was replaced with sitting or some other sedentary behavior, the team found a 13-17 per cent increase in early death risk.
Medical News Today
