REDUCING PROLONGED SITTING SHOULD BE A BETTER GOAL THAN EXERCISING MORE

woman sitting

A lot of the times we place emphasis on exercising more and keeping fit, forgetting that some dangerous things like sitting for long hours is damaging for the health.

A new study says sitting less is the best way to stay healthy. The study aimed to explore strategies that would help fight the effects of sitting for long hours, which has been a medical issue for years now.

To conduct the study, the researchers worked with data from 38 previous intervention trials.

The ideas to help ease prolonged sitting include: providing workers with sit-stand desks, encouraging people to keep track of how much time they spend sitting, setting personal goals for reducing sitting time and setting reminders to remind us to take a break.

These methods have proven to be successful, and they have little or nothing to do with exercising which has always been the major suggestion as to curb the effect of sitting for long hours.

The study’s co-author, Professor Stuart Biddle of Victoria University in Australia said: “The importance of this study is not in showing that interventions can work, but in pointing out how they might work,

“This is crucial if behavior is to be achieved more efficiently and effectively.”

The researchers also recommend looking at sitting time as something independent of the need to exercise more.

According to co-author Dr. Benjamin Gardner of King’s College London: “The findings should also be of interest to anyone looking to improve their health by reducing their own sitting time in their day-to-day lives, as many of these interventions can be adopted on an individual level.”

“Avoiding sedentary time and getting regular exercise are both important for improving your health and survival,” said Dr. Alter, Senior Scientist, Toronto Rehab, University Health Network (UHN), and Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. “It is not good enough to exercise for 30 minutes a day and be sedentary for 23 and half hours.”

The study was published in the journal Health Psychology Review, and it supports an earlier study which suggests that regardless of regular exercise, prolonged sedentary periods still pose major health threats.

Do you sit for prolonged hours?

S.O.Z 

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