Research suggests inactivity may be linked to increased risk for
diabetes, other blood sugar problems, heart disease, stroke and an
earlier death, according to the statement from the American Heart
Association.
"Be conscious of how much time you're spending sitting, and try to
move more," said Dr. Deborah Rohm Young, chair of the AHA committee
that authored the new statement.
"At least when you’re at home, try not to sit on the couch the whole
time," said Young, who is also director of behavioral research at
Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena.
Results from national health surveys in the U.S. suggest that adults
spend an average of six to eight hours a day inactive, or sedentary,
the committee writes in the journal Circulation. People over age 60
spend up to an average of 10 hours a day sedentary.
There could be a number of explanations for people being sedentary,
the committee writes. Evidence suggests that people with mental
health issues may spend a larger amount of time inactive, for
example. Additionally, there may be a genetic component to people
being sedentary.
There is also evidence that inactivity is a risk factor for a number
of health conditions, and that taking breaks from being inactive may
be protective of health.
Most of the existing studies of inactivity show a link between time
spent being sedentary and an increased risk of diabetes, for
instance. Several studies also show a link between sedentary time
and heart disease.
One European study found that each hour of being inactive and
watching TV increased a person's risk of fatal and nonfatal heart
disease by about 6 percent. Each extra inactive hour was also tied
to an 8 percent increased risk of coronary heart disease, which
includes plaque buildup in the arteries.
Other studies tie increasing sedentary time to earlier death, the
committee writes.
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The connection between poor health and being sedentary may be
independent of the link connecting more physical activity with
improved health, Young told Reuters Health. So, people should likely
break up prolonged periods of inactivity even if they meet the AHA's
physical activity recommendations.
The quality of the current evidence prevented the committee from
being able to say that people should stop being sedentary at
particular intervals, the authors note.
The current AHA recommendation is that adults should get 150 minutes
of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical
activity each week.
Getting people who are mainly inactive to move just a bit can likely
lead to big gains in health, said Dr. John Bisognano, president of
the American Society of Hypertension and a preventive cardiologist
at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.
"Just encouraging people to do a little bit can make a big
difference," said Bisognano, who was not involved with the new
statement.
For example, he said, people could get up and walk around their
building every hour.
"Motivating people to go from sedentary to physically active is a
good focus," said Bisognano.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1GwHxg0 Circulation, online August 15, 2016.
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