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 Overall, the study linked sitting for more than 10 hours a day to a
35 percent higher risk of diabetes compared with sitting for less
than 6 hours daily.
But the good news for desk jockeys is that staying slim and getting
plenty of exercise appeared to minimize the diabetes risk associated
with all that time sitting down.
"If you are normal weight, and it's impossible to avoid sitting a
lot at work, it's nice to know that being physically active outside
work alleviates the diabetes hazard from sitting – at least that's
what our results point toward," said senior study author Dr. Janne
Tolstrup of the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen.
While previous research has linked sedentary time to diabetes, the
current findings should encourage people with desk jobs to get
moving more during the day, Tolstrup added by email.
"If you do sit, there's a lot you can do quite easily," Tolstrup
said. "Stand at your desk, or try to vary your position, take active
breaks such as standing or walking as opposed to sitting, and be
sure you have some real physical activity during leisure time."
Globally, about one in 10 adults have diabetes, according to the
World Health Organization. Most of these people have type 2
diabetes, which is associated with obesity and aging and occurs when
the body can’t make or use enough of the hormone insulin.
To assess the connection between diabetes and sedentary time,
Tolstrup and colleagues analyzed data on more than 72,000 people who
reported how much time they spent sitting in 2007 and 2008. The
researchers followed people over five years to see how many
developed diabetes.
Half of the study participants reported sitting for at least 6.3
hours a day, according to the results in the British Journal of
Sports Medicine.
People who reported sitting for 10 hours or more were likely to be
younger, have more education, be physically inactive, smoke, drink
alcohol and be overweight.
During the study period, 1,790 adults developed diabetes.
Compared to those who sat for less than six hours a day, people who
spent six to 10 hours sitting were 15 percent more likely to develop
diabetes, suggesting the risk increases with the number of hours
spent sitting down.
There wasn't an increased diabetes risk associated with increased
sitting time when people got at least 150 minutes a week of moderate
to vigorous physical activity, however. That suggests that other
factors – notably obesity and lack of exercise – are the main
drivers of the link between sitting time and diabetes risk, the
study team writes.
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Limitations of the study include its reliance on people to
accurately report how much time they spent sitting on a typical day,
as well as the lack of data on their sedentary habits over time, the
authors note. Only 14 percent of people asked to participate agreed
to join the study, which also means the results may not be
representative of the Danish population.
"Unfortunately at the population level, the majority of the
population are overweight or obese and the majority of the
population are inactive," said David Dunstan, head of the physical
activity laboratory at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in
Melbourne, Australia.
"The message here is that health gains could be made at the
population level if sitting time was reduced, of course, in addition
to engaging in regular exercise," Dunstan, who wasn't involved in
the study, added by email.
Certainly, there's little downside to getting up from a desk to walk
around, said Bethany Barone Gibbs, a researcher at the University of
Pittsburgh who wasn't involved in the study.
"It is unlikely that reducing sitting and breaking it up will be
harmful, but we are still trying to quantify the potential benefit
of this particular behavior modification on diabetes risk and other
health outcomes," Gibbs said by email.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/22Pa5CG British Journal of Sports Medicine,
online February 23, 2016.
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