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Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

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Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#41

Post by niels_olson »

postfuturist wrote: post #33

This sort of 'science writing' is infuriating: "Specifically, he found that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity. And many of these men routinely exercised." Well, is he controlling for those who exercise or not? If not, then what is the point?

As a physician, I find NPR is generally good at addressing issues at a level the average person can understand. No one is claiming the NPR article is the study. They do link to the studies in the text.

As for controlling for exercise: the whole point of the article is that researchers are finding that outcomes are at least reliably associated (with or without causality) with sedentary activity, that is, specifically measuring the amount of not-doing-anything-physical.

The Warren study very specifically looked at driving and watching TV as it relates to cardiovascular disease. In the introduction, they specifically address your contention:

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Sedentary pursuits represent a unique aspect of human behavior and should not be viewed as simply the extreme low end of the physical activity continuum. For example, several studies have demonstrated that excess TV viewing time, independent from overall physical activity levels, is adversely associated with metabolic risk factors (18)

[ed: ref 18 is Hamilton MT, Hamilton DG, Zderic TW. Role of low energy expenditure and sitting in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes. 2007;56(11):2655–67.]

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Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#42

Post by omfut »

lpolovets wrote: post #5

I am not going to disagree with the article or dispute that sitting all day is not as healthy as occasionally moving around, but does anyone else feel like this is the latest "health scare" meme? It reminds me of how leg embolisms on long flights were the focus of attention a few years ago. (i.e. completely absent from the news at first, then an overabundance of stories once a single scientific study is published.)

I agree with the article. I have been working out for years and still got back problems. Was diagnosed with mild herniated disk. Reason- Bad posture and sitting for long hours. Also the chair that we use to sit plays a big role.

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#44

Post by efsavage »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #30

Am I the only one in hacker news that does not sit down at all at work? We are bipeds designed for standing on our two foot and moving from a while. I have lifeguards friends that talked to me about the change in the body shape they have seen over the years, especially women as the spend more and more time sit down in front of the computer. So I decided to change, it took months to get used to it as all musculature h…

Well, we're really designed to walk/run. Sitting at a bar school or standing still all day comes with its own set of health issues (not saying if they're equal or not, but they're present).

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#45

Post by xpaulbettsx »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #30

Am I the only one in hacker news that does not sit down at all at work? We are bipeds designed for standing on our two foot and moving from a while. I have lifeguards friends that talked to me about the change in the body shape they have seen over the years, especially women as the spend more and more time sit down in front of the computer. So I decided to change, it took months to get used to it as all musculature h…

Do you end up using a desk that is just elevated? I'm considering this approach as well.

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#46

Post by mildavw »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #30

Am I the only one in hacker news that does not sit down at all at work? We are bipeds designed for standing on our two foot and moving from a while. I have lifeguards friends that talked to me about the change in the body shape they have seen over the years, especially women as the spend more and more time sit down in front of the computer. So I decided to change, it took months to get used to it as all musculature h…

I and a few of my co-workers stand all day. We are moving to a new office and I took a survey in order to buy appropriate furniture. Everyone wanted stand up desks. I just ordered 20 of these http://www.ergodepot.com/Ergo_Depot_adjustable_desk_AD127HD_... and only 6 chairs.

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#47

Post by assiotis »

msluyter wrote: post #20
j_baker wrote: post #15

I don't see any evidence that this is causation and not just correlation. I'd believe that people who sit more are at higher risk for heart attack. But I'd also argue that those people are more likely to get less exercise.

But didn't these studies control for exercise? But now, researchers are beginning to suspect that even if you engage in regular exercise daily, it may not be enough to counteract the effects of too much sitting during the rest of the day.

That is not what the researchers suspect. The article misquotes the study. You only have to go as far as the abstract to find: "Regardless of the amount of sedentary activity reported by these men, being older, having normal weight, being normotensive, and being physically active were associated with a reduced risk of CVD death."

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#48

Post by VMG »

maxxxxx wrote: post #12
lpolovets wrote: post #5

I am not going to disagree with the article or dispute that sitting all day is not as healthy as occasionally moving around, but does anyone else feel like this is the latest "health scare" meme? It reminds me of how leg embolisms on long flights were the focus of attention a few years ago. (i.e. completely absent from the news at first, then an overabundance of stories once a single scientific study is published.)

It's definitely a real issue. I have been working at a desk since my 20s. Now in my 40s my legs go numb after sitting for a half an hour. The problem goes away when I am on vacation for a few weeks. I bet a lot of health issues would go away if people could spend less time sitting.

My dream of working (short of brain-machine interface) is a tiny screen mounted in front of my eye (monochrome tty would suffice) and input by hand gestures.

But still, I probably would have to sit down to work because it would be too dangerous to walk around while concentrating on something else. Maybe standing or lying down would be an advantage.

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#49

Post by kaens »

andrewvc wrote: post #2

Maybe this has no basis in reality, but one reason I stopped cycling as a primary form of cardio ( I run now ) is I just felt wrong moving from sitting at a computer to sitting on a bike.

I thought you weren't supposed to really "sit" most of the time on a bike -- mostly more of a crouch type of thing.

Re: Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

#50

Post by beaumartinez »

andrewvc wrote: post #2

Maybe this has no basis in reality, but one reason I stopped cycling as a primary form of cardio ( I run now ) is I just felt wrong moving from sitting at a computer to sitting on a bike.

So don't sit on your saddle—take it off. (Bonus reason: saddles {with a nose} also cause erectile dysfunction; I don't have any sources at hand but I'm sure if you search you will find).
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