How being sedentary can affect your health – and back

In recent years, evidence from the emerging field of ‘sedentary science’ points to the growing impact of inactivity on public health and life expectancy.

A host of global studies reveal an alarming trend – that being sedentary has an associated risk with diseases such as cancer, and chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It can also lead to obesity and a host of musculoskeletal disorders, including back pain.

So what does it mean to be ‘sedentary’? Derived from the Latin word ‘sedere’ (‘to sit’), the term is generally defined as too much sitting, as distinct from too little exercise. This can refer to prolonged sitting during activities such as driving, being in transit, watching television, working and even relaxing at home.

The advent of the technological age – combined with changes in transport, occupations, domestic activities and leisure time – has meant that we are far less physically active than our forefathers ever were.

Fast facts:

• It’s estimated that people spend, on average, about 300 minutes a day sitting.
• A recent Australian study showed that television viewing reduced life expectancy at birth by 1.8 years in men and 1.5 years in women.
• According to a US study, the average person spends 35.5 hours per week watching TV. In Australia, the lifetime average of TV viewing is 42 hours a week. Researchers believe that every single hour of TV viewed may shorten life as much as 22 minutes.

A landmark Australian study, Stand Up Australia, has specifically examined the impact of sedentary workplace behaviours (office-based, call centre and retail employees) on health.

It found that 77 per cent of the working day was spent sitting (a European study estimates that the average office worker spends a whopping 80,000 hours sitting in the course of their working life!). Not only that, individuals who spent long periods of time sitting at work tended to do the same on non-work days.

Interestingly, Stand Up Australia study participants believed they were much more physically active than they actually were. Unsurprisingly, the study drew the conclusion that prolonged sitting had an adverse effect on workplace health and productivity.

How to avoid a sedentary lifestyle:

• Do at least 20 to 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day.
• Take five minute breaks for every hour of sitting you do.
• Be alert and aware about your sitting posture.
• In the workplace, introduce ergonomic changes such as sit-stand workstations (where you can alternate between sitting and standing) or phone headsets to allow for movement during calls. A company called TreDesk Treadmill Desks even hopes to allow employees the chance to workout at work by walking while working.

Sources:

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/4/e000828.full.pdf+html
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/46/13/927.full
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-012-2677-z
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/2/81.full
http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/2/153.full
http://www.abc.net.au/health/library/stories/2005/04/24/1829000.htm#.UdzjPzszgoQ
http://www.medibank.com.au/Client/Documents/Pdfs/Stand_Up_Australia.pdf
http://www.sedentarybehaviour.org/2011/11/23/neville-owen-explains-the-health-impact-of-sedentary-behaviour/