What’s wrong with sitting too long? Early death, according to researchers
- Long-term study of Taiwanese workers finds those who mostly sat on the job had significantly higher risk of disease, mortality
- Taking regular walking breaks from the desk, daily exercise could reduce the dangers, researchers say
But leaving a desk for walk breaks and exercising for an extra 15 to 30 minutes per day could offset the risk, the study, which followed nearly 500,000 people in Taiwan over 13 year periods, found.
“The serious risks associated with prolonged occupational sitting can be mitigated by incorporating regular breaks and engaging in additional physical activity,” the researchers in Taiwan and the United States said.
“Systemic changes, such as more frequent breaks, standing desks, designated workplace areas for physical activity and gym membership benefits, can help reduce risk,” they wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open on January 19.
In their study, researchers analysed data collected from people with full-time employment over the age of 20 who were part of an annual or biannual health check-up programme in Taiwan between 1996 and 2017. The analysis excluded people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease diagnoses.
In questionnaires given during each check up, participants had been asked if they were “mostly sitting, mostly sitting and standing while performing repetitive motions in the course of work [or] standing and walking around most of the time”.