People Who Spend a Lot of Time Sitting May Be Up to 40% More Likely to Die From Any Cause, Study Finds

March 26, 2012 -- Don't take this sitting down, but spending too much time in a chair is bad for your health -- really, really bad.

New research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that people who spend a lot of time sitting may be up to 40% more likely to die from any cause, compared to people who don't sit as long.

The study tracked nearly 222,500 Australian adults for about three years. During that time, people's odds of dying dovetailed with how much time they spent sitting.

Compared to people who spent less than four hours per day sitting, the odds of dying were:

Our findings add to the mounting evidence that public health programs should focus not just on increasing population physical activity levels, but also on reducing sitting time, the researchers write.

Alpa V. Patel, PhD, has published studies on the health risks associated with too much sitting. She is an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. We are continuing to demonstrate time and time again in different populations that there is something real to the association between sitting time and reduced longevity.

What's so bad about sitting for long periods? That's not totally clear. But exercise and movement do have a positive effect on blood fats called triglycerides and other heart risks, and improves blood pressure, Patel says.

Her advice: Sit for five fewer minutes per hour. Small changes can have a big impact," she says.

Technology may fight that. It's given us fewer reasons to move, says David A. Friedman, MD. He is the chief of heart failure services at North Shore Plainview Hospital in Plainview, N.Y.

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Sitting Too Much May Boost Odds of Dying