Prolonged Sitting Associated with Higher All-Cause Mortality Rates

The health complications caused by sedentary behavior are not canceled out by exercise, according to a recent study.

In order to better quantify this relationship, researchers evaluated data from studies that demonstrated the health impact of sedentary behavior adjusted for physical activity.
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Meta-analyses were performed on outcomes for cardiovascular disease and diabetes (14 studies), cancer (14 studies), and all-cause mortality (13 studies). 

The analysis showed an association between heightened sedentary time and independent increased risk for cardiovascular disease (HR, 1.143), cancer (HR, 1.130), type 2 diabetes (HR, 1.910), all-cause mortality (HR, 1.240), cancer-related death (HR, 1.173), and cardiovascular death (HR, 1.179).

Investigators noted that while higher levels of physical activity were associated with less pronounced risks, even high levels of physical activity did not eliminate the risks of sedentary time all together.

“Prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity,” the researchers concluded.

The complete study is published in the January issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

-Michelle Canales

References:

1. Biswas A, Oh PI, Faulkner GE, et al. Sedentary time and its association with risk for disease incidence, mortality, and hospitalization in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2015 January [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.7326/M14-1651.