According to a paper published this week in BMJ Open, people in the US could live two years more by sitting less than three hours per day, and 1.4 years more by reducing the time spent watching television to less than two hours.
‘Yes, this would be a challenge,’ says co-author Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre, in Louisiana, USA. ‘On the other hand, there are many strategies to reduce sitting time, such as standing more at work using a standing desk or treadmill desk, having walking meetings, going to see someone down the hall rather than emailing them etc.’
Scientists generally agree that, in order to stay healthy, it is necessary to do some daily exercise. In this case, however, some experts disagree with the results of the study, as reported by BBC News.
‘This is a study of populations, and does not tell you personally what the effect of getting off the sofa might be,’ said Prof David Spiegelhalter of the University of Cambridge to BBC News. ‘It seems plausible that if future generations moved around a bit more, then they might live longer on average. But very few of us currently spend less than three hours sitting each day, and so this seems a very optimistic target.’
Source: BBC News
Photo: Evert F. Baumgardner
Peter T Katzmarzyk, & I-Min Lee (2012). Sedentary behaviour and life expectancy in the USA: a cause-deleted life table analysis BMJ Open DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-000828
Living Longer, Living Better
Lionel H. Opie
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