Danger of sitting: so much movement helps
Luise Heine has been an editor at since 2012. The qualified biologist studied in Regensburg and Brisbane (Australia) and gained experience as a journalist in television, in the Ratgeber-Verlag and in a print magazine. In addition to her work at , she also writes for children, for example for the Stuttgarter Kinderzeitung, and has her own breakfast blog, “Kuchen zum Frühstück”.
More posts by Luise Heine All content is checked by medical journalists.Man is not made to sit. Nonetheless, many nowadays spend large parts of their lives on the office chair. That nibbles on your health, as much as smoking or being overweight. But there is an antidote that can be used to counterbalance the negative effect on health: exercise. The dose is crucial.
Get up, drive to work, sit in front of the PC, drive home and off in front of the television - this is the daily routine of many people. With fatal consequences for health: Those who sit too much are more likely to get diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular diseases and as a result die earlier on average. Death from the effects of too much sitting - five million people die from it every year, according to estimates.
Big data analysis
To avoid this fate, the general recommendation is to be active for about 150 minutes a week. Ulf Ekelund and his colleagues from the University of Cambridge determined that this advice is good, but not enough to eliminate the negative effects of too much meat. With the help of a huge data set, they also found out how much movement it takes.
As a basis, the researchers evaluated the data from 16 studies. In total, the information from over a million women and men was included.
For the evaluation, they divided the people into four groups. The bottom moved less than five minutes a day, the top over 60 minutes. Activity was counted when someone walked at a speed of at least 6 km / h or cycled 16 km / h. The result: The least active group has a 28 to 59 percent higher risk of premature death compared to the most sporty group.
60 to 75 minutes of exercise daily
The good news: "With the right amount of exercise, it is possible to reduce or even eliminate the risk of premature death from too much sitting - and you don't even have to do sports or go to a fitness study", summarizes Ekelund.
In fact, 60 to 75 minutes of moderate activity a day is enough to offset the disadvantages of sitting. One hour a day, which, however, was only achieved by a quarter of the test subjects. "With today's lifestyle, it is not possible for many people to escape long periods of sitting," says the researcher.
However, the scientists particularly advise those people to simply distribute small bites of exercise over the day. “Go out of the office for lunch, jog a little in the morning or take your bike to work,” says Ekelund. Even if you don't get an hour a day, every little bit more exercise counts! And for most of them it should be easy to do without the elevator and instead use the stairs.
Source: Ulf Ekelund et al. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonized meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women. The Lancet, 2016; DOI: 10.1016 / S0140-673630370-1
