Sitting too long increases risk of disease, despite daily run

A new report says that your daily run is not enough to combat major diseases.

Those who are getting in physical activity, must make a point of decreasing time spent being sedentary as well.  The report, published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine, found that the amount of time spent sitting increases risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Prolonged sedentary behaviour ups a person’s chances of getting heart disease by 15 to 20 per cent and a couch sitter’s chances of getting diabetes increase to 90 per cent. That’s shocking considering that these statistics were adjusted for people who are already active for a half-hour per day.

So if your daily run isn’t enough to decrease these health concerns, what is? The authors of the paper suggested continuing the exercise but to also monitor sitting times. The researchers advised that for those who spend eight-hour days sitting at desks, try to get up and move for one to three minutes every half hour.

If you want to be extreme about it, take a stand against sitting while still getting work done.