As little as 20-25 minutes of physical activity each day could potentially mitigate the increased risk of death associated with a sedentary lifestyle. Engaging in higher daily doses of physical activity is linked to a lower risk of mortality, regardless of the time spent sitting, according to a study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
In many developed nations, adults typically spend around 9 to 10 hours sitting each day, primarily during working hours. This highly sedentary lifestyle has been consistently associated with an elevated risk of mortality.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY; METHOD
Prior research on the benefits of physical activity to counteract prolonged sitting has often used aggregated data, resulting in a generalized approach. To address this, the researchers of this study pooled individual participant data from four groups of individuals who were equipped with activity trackers. Their aim was to explore how physical activity might influence the connection between sedentary time and mortality and to determine the specific levels of physical activity and sitting time that might impact this risk.
The study included data collected between 2003 and 2019 from various sources, comprising almost 12,000 people aged 50 or older. Participants had a minimum of 4 days of activity tracker records with at least 10 daily hours, were monitored for at least 2 years, and provided information on factors such as sex, education, weight, height, smoking history, alcohol intake, and any history of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY; FINDINGS
The analysis showed that individuals who were sedentary for over 12 hours daily faced a 38% higher risk of death compared to those with 8 hours of daily sitting, but this increase in risk was only significant for those engaging in less than 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. More than 22 minutes of such activity correlated with a lower risk of death.
Additionally, the study found that the connection between sedentary time and mortality was substantially influenced by the amount of moderate to vigorous work out. For example, an extra 10 minutes of this activity each day reduced the risk of death by 15% for those sitting fewer than 10.5 hours and by 35% for those sitting more than 10.5 hours daily.
Interestingly, light-intensity physical activity only demonstrated a mortality risk reduction among those with highly sedentary lifestyles (12+ daily hours).
The study emphasizes that it is observational and cannot establish a causal relationship. It also highlights the importance of considering potentially influential factors like diet and general health, which were not taken into account. Despite these limitations, the researchers conclude that incorporating even small amounts of moderate to vigorous work out into daily routines can be a valuable strategy to reduce the mortality risk associated with prolonged sitting. Accumulating more than 22 minutes of such work out daily appears to eliminate the risk of high sedentary time, underscoring the potential health benefits of promoting activity.
