Study: Adults Are Sedentary Nearly Two-thirds of Waking Hours
Posted: February 8, 2016 in Suppliers
American College of Sports Medicine
MUNCIE, IN – Men and women are sitting or lying down about 64% of their waking hours, which may damage their health, says a new report by Ball State University.
Variability of Objectively Measured Sedentary Behavior analyzed data taken from about 300 adults, ages 19 to 90, participating in research at Ball State’s Clinical Exercise Physiology Laboratory over the last several years. Participants had electronic measuring devices strapped to their hips to track their movements 24 hours a day for a week.
“Our study found that most adults simply aren’t moving, and that’s because many of our jobs are done in a seated position while working at a computer or something similar,” said Alex Montoye, a clinical exercise physiology professor in Ball State’s Human Performance Laboratory. “At the same time, much of our leisure time is often spent in front of a screen, such as for TV, social media and smart phones.
“Just because a person exercises for a half hour or hour every day doesn’t just mean they can be sedentary the rest of the time,” he said. “We have to get up and get moving throughout the day to maintain good health.”
Montoye notes that, in the past decade, the understanding of sedentary behavior’s harmful effects has grown and its association with poor health is becoming well established. Increased sedentary behavior has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colon and rectal cancers as well as premature death.
The study found:
•Sedentary behavior appears to be constant day to day.
•Men spend a few minutes more than women being sedentary on weekends.
•Women had fewer breaks in sedentary behavior than men on Saturdays.
•On Thursdays, men took fewer breaks in sedentary behavior than women.
Since sedentary lifestyles create major negative health outcomes for modern workers, employers paying health insurance premiums need to address the issue too, said study co-author Lenny Kaminsky, Director of the university’s Fisher Institute of Health and Wellbeing and the John and Janice Fisher Distinguished Professor of Wellness.
“Being less sedentary is different than being more active,” he said. “Although both behaviors, being less sedentary and being more active, are recommended for good health, the change in sedentary behavior just requires standing up and moving around for one to two minutes every 30 to 60 minutes.”
To reduce time on the couch at home or in a chair at the office, the research team recommends average adults modify their routines, such as: taking a short walk around the office or home once an hour; walking to speak with a colleague in person instead of by phone or exchanging an email; standing up to speak on the phone; using a standup desk and doing short bursts of exercises for a minute per hour while watching television or working on the computer.
“Since we live in a society where work is now done at a desk, it is very important that we make small changes in our daily habits,” Montoye said. “Those little changes will make a big difference over time.”
The study was recently posted in the online edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE), the research journal of the America College of Sports Medicine.
