Sitting Is The New Smoking

Are you sitting comfortably?

Did you know that every time you sit down you are damaging your health.

Sitting is sedentary! Get up and move

Yes, that’s right. Our cultural norm of sitting down for most of the day is one of the biggest potential threats to our health today.

And as the boss of the tobacco giant behind the iconic Marlboro Man wants a date to be set to ban cigarettes, could health campaigners' attention now turn to our obsession with a chair?

Multiple studies show that sitting is more dangerous than smoking. Our body is designed to be used. It's no different than any other machine. If you don't maintain it, it will fall into disrepair and that’s what happens when you take a seat. You stop moving. For this reason, some say that sitting is the new smoking.

Ok, to say your chair is killing you is an exaggeration, but it’s flagging the principle that we need to move more than we sit. Most of us are sitting far more than we need to. This isn’t new news and yet many of us still choose to sit not stand. In the 1950s, researchers observed that London bus drivers were twice as likely to have a heart attack as their bus conductor colleagues, the theory being that they were more sedentary. Just ten years ago another study concluded that higher amounts of daily total sitting time are associated with greater risk of mortality. Interestingly, a 2010 American study found that the negative effects of sitting were just as strong in people who exercise regularly and this is because we still spend more time sitting than being active overall.

On average, adults in Western countries spend between 55% and 70% of their day sedentary. This translates to approximately 9-11 hours a day of sitting. So why does sitting down for ages, even if you have taken the dog out and done a gym session, still mean you need to stand up or walk about?

Well, it’s thought that it’s down to what happens to your metabolism. When you are sedentary, you use less energy. This puts your body at rest as when you are sitting down most of us barely move. Yes, you are burning fewer calories and your muscles go into standby mode too as they are not mobile. This equates to your circulation also slowing down and so things like your digestive system is impacted. Remember your heart is a muscle, if that’s not being asked to pump blood to move the muscles it’s also taking a bit of a break and so it’s not being optimised for most of the day. Hence the link to heart problems.

So, unless you have a very active job you will likely spend a lot of time in a chair and yet science repeatedly tells us that higher amounts of total daily sitting time is linked to a greater risk of mortality and being diagnosed with things like cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and back pain.

So, what can you do about it?

Move more. It’s that simple. We know the Government wants us to take around 10,000 steps a day and yet the NHS states that the average Brit does between 3000 to 4000 steps a day. Isn’t that shocking.

Walking during lunchbreak to increase step count

Our ancestors in their hunter-gatherer days apparently did up to 17,000 steps a day as they went looking for food and shelter. Just take a moment to think about that. We know that other cultures have a higher average daily step count and their rates of obesity are lower.

It’s hard to argue against moving more. The more you walk the more you will be doing to help protect yourself from obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, colds, flu, depression, anxiety and some cancers…Do I need to go on? Ok, you will sleep better and your brain will function better too! Phew, there’s more but I have to get on and get some steps in….

Here’s a few simple ideas to make a change today:

Movement Recommendations

If you feel like you are tethered to a desk all day, try to take a five minute break every hour. Whether that’s to go to the loo or make a drink or even to chat to a workmate rather than emailing them, this is better than nothing. You might feel like you should be working but taking time away from the screen has the added benefit of resetting your brain so you can be more productive. Standing desks help a lot too.

Can you get a headset so you can do work calls standing up or walking round your home or office?

At home, try to do some of your life admin standing too, so if you are ordering the online shop, do this in standing. Or what about going to the shop rather than ordering online? There are more steps in going round the supermarket. Same for takeaways, don’t get a delivery, go to the takeaway place! It’s just a few steps but it all adds up.

Dog training and dog walking in the woods

Checking your emails? Stand up to do it or do some idle walking round the room.

Walk or borrow a dog! Check our borrowmydoggy.com if you don’t have a dog

Take the stairs, park further from the cinema or get off the bus or train a stop earlier.

Walk your children or grandchildren to school

Encourage your children to walk more or scoot or bike to school or the park. Instil healthy habits in them. If it’s safe, there’s no better way to implant health into your kids than to walk them to school. Could you set up a walking bus locally with other parents?

All these things will add up to increasing your daily step count and safeguarding your ability to age well.

Now, did you read all this sitting or standing……?