Is Sitting the New Smoking?

Technology has taken the world to new heights, but at what cost? Sitting for hours in front of a computer for work or school has resulted in a general deterioration of health. A small, recent study, published in the American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggests that getting out of one’s chair every half hour may help improve blood sugar levels and overall health.

The study found that every hour spent sitting or lying down increases the risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. However, frequent moving can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the odds of developing metabolic syndrome, which can lead to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other health problems.

Senior study author, Dr. Erik Naslund, a professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, says a modest exercise program of three minutes every 30 minutes results in a small improvement in blood sugar and blood-sugar fluctuations.

During the three-week study, Naslund’s team followed 16 obese adults who led a sedentary lifestyle or had a job where they sat all day. A fitness tracker signaled every 30 minutes for 10 hours a day, which reminded each participant to get up and move. For a period of three minutes, they did low-to-moderate intensity activity, such as walking or climbing stairs. At the end of the study period, the active group had lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and lower blood sugar levels with fewer spikes and dips, compared with the inactive group. 

Researchers concluded that people are meant to move and keep moving. Dr. Len Horovitz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, noted that sitting is the new smoking and can cause multiple consequences to the muscles, joints, circulation, and blood sugar. “Every calorie that you don’t expend because you sit all day is a calorie you don’t burn, muscles you don’t use, circulation that doesn’t get called upon,” he said.