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Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

m.theatlantic.com

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Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#11

Post by noblethrasher »

jalanco wrote: post #6

This story keeps popping up on HN and elsewhere. And the common solution I've read is "Please, just get a standup desk!" as if standing up and not moving is healthier than sitting and not moving. I've seen no study that supports that conclusion. I think the message should be: moving is healthier than not moving, which is hardly news.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/most-dangerous-th...

"British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators."

The idea is that bus drivers and trolley operators are similar in all the other important respects (e.g. socio-economic backgrounds).

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#12

Post by crusso »

jalanco wrote: post #6

This story keeps popping up on HN and elsewhere. And the common solution I've read is "Please, just get a standup desk!" as if standing up and not moving is healthier than sitting and not moving. I've seen no study that supports that conclusion. I think the message should be: moving is healthier than not moving, which is hardly news.

Even standing still burns 10-50 calories more per hour, depending upon your physiology. That adds up in a full day. Standing up also engages muscles that are important in maintaining good balance and keeping your skeletal structure properly aligned.

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#13

Post by gwern »

This reminds me of another correlational study I was tickled pink to read, and I just had to quote it in one of my essays http://www.gwern.net/Nicotine#fn7 :

> "…Based on these figures, and expected deaths from all causes, the authors calculated that an individual who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching TV can expect to live just under five fewer years than someone who does not watch TV. These figures compare with the impact of other well known lifestyle factors on the risk of death from cardiovascular disease after the age of 50, including physical activity and obesity. For example, other research has shown that lifelong smoking is associated with the shortening of life expectancy by more than 4 years after the age of 50, with the average loss of life from one cigarette calculated to be 11 minutes - equivalent to half an hour of TV watching, according to the authors’ risk framework."

Now isn't that a kick in the rear? If you gave up half an hour of TV to smoke a cigarette, you... did nothing to your life expectancy, if the correlations are to be taken causally.

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#14

Post by MarkMc »

csomar wrote: post #9

Oh god, and I sit on my chair for more than 15 hours a day. Does anyone knows the probability of dying after 3 years. If it's 0.0005% likely that I'll die in the next 3 years, how does 40% or 100% changes that? It still very unlikely that I'll die.

Well there were 5,405 deaths among the group of 222,497 people aged 45 and above. That's an average chance of death in 3 years of 2.4% for this age group.

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#15

Post by sheeps »

gwern wrote: post #13

This reminds me of another correlational study I was tickled pink to read, and I just had to quote it in one of my essays http://www.gwern.net/Nicotine#fn7 : > "…Based on these figures, and expected deaths from all causes, the authors calculated that an individual who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching TV can expect to live just under five fewer years than someone who does not watch TV. These figur…

Make sure you stand while smoking it, though. :-)

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#16

Post by therobotking »

noblethrasher wrote: post #11
jalanco wrote: post #6

This story keeps popping up on HN and elsewhere. And the common solution I've read is "Please, just get a standup desk!" as if standing up and not moving is healthier than sitting and not moving. I've seen no study that supports that conclusion. I think the message should be: moving is healthier than not moving, which is hardly news.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/most-dangerous-th... "British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators." The idea is that bus drivers and trolley operators are similar in all the other important respects (e.g. socio-economic backgrounds).

My father was a bus driver and he had a heart attack in his late 50s. The number of men he worked with who also had heart attacks was staggering. When he visits the hospital for his regular check-ups he always meets other bus drivers. It's really quite alarming.

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#17

Post by zvrba »

jalanco wrote: post #6

This story keeps popping up on HN and elsewhere. And the common solution I've read is "Please, just get a standup desk!" as if standing up and not moving is healthier than sitting and not moving. I've seen no study that supports that conclusion. I think the message should be: moving is healthier than not moving, which is hardly news.

Standing keeps postural musculature (those you use to keep balance upright) active. So even standing still is way more activity than simply sitting where postural muscles just do nothing.

I wonder whether "active sitting" [e.g., sitting on a ball, or just sitting correctly (upright, instead of leaning on the back of the chair -- imagine sitting upright on a chair without the back)] has the same negative effect.

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#19

Post by bcl »

bwh2 wrote: post #8

I work at a standing desk and I've noticed several benefits: * No leg pain. Extended sitting hurts blood flow to my legs, causing leg pain. * Less back pain. Even in chairs designed to promote good posture, I somehow manage to slouch or arch and give myself back problems. * Strong calves. * I'm more likely to drink water. I'm already standing, so there's a smaller barrier to filling up my bottle at the water cooler.

How long did it take to notice these results? Are you normally an active person or is standing your primary form of 'exercise'?

Re: Confirmed: He Who Sits the Most Dies the Soonest

#20

Post by MarkMc »

Rage wrote: post #3

Ok, but WHY ? 40% more chance of dying in the next 3 years, but WHY ? because the chair broke ? They just did statistics and conclude that sitting is harmfull. Ok. But i'm sure we can also find that, for example, more men died than women. Does that mean being a man can kill you ? I don't mean being sat most of the time isn't harmfull, but i mean this study doesn't PROVE anything.

Yes, being a man gives you more chance of dying, but this study showed the increased risk of sitting even when taking this into account. Their result summary says they adjusted for factors including "sex, age, education, urban/rural residence, physical activity, body mass index, smoking status, self-rated health, and disability": http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/172/6/494
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