Is Sitting Down All Day Bad for Your Health?

Our society today is set up to encourage people to sit for long periods. This means that people spend more time sitting down than they used to.

But you might be curious whether sitting too much can harm your health.

This article will explain whether sitting can have adverse effects on your well-being.

By Sorapop

Nowadays, people sit more than they have ever done in the past

Sitting is something we do a lot. Whether working, hanging out with friends, studying, or going somewhere, we often sit down.

But sitting too much can be bad for us. Most people spend more than half of their day sitting. This includes driving, working at a desk, or watching TV.

For example, office workers can sit for as long as 15 hours a day. On the other hand, people who work in agriculture only sit for about 3 hours a day (1, 2).

When you sit, you burn fewer calories.

The activities you do every day, like standing, walking, and even moving around, can help you burn calories. This is called non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). If you don’t do enough of these activities, it can increase your risk of gaining weight (3).

You don’t burn many calories when you spend a lot of time sitting or lying down. This means you’re not using NEAT to its full potential.

To give you an idea, studies show that farmworkers can burn about 1,000 more calories each day than people with desk jobs (4). This is because farmworkers are constantly walking and standing.

Sitting increases your risk of weight gain.

You’re more likely to get fat if you don’t burn many calories. That’s why not being active is strongly connected to being obese. Studies prove that obese people spend about two extra hours sitting each day compared to those with an average weight (5).

Sitting too much can cause people to die earlier.

Information from studying over 1 million individuals suggests that you have a higher chance of dying early if you don’t move around much.

Specifically, very inactive people have a 22–49% higher risk of dying prematurely (6, 7).

Although most research supports this idea, one study did not find a connection between sitting for long periods and the chances of dying (8).

This study had some problems, which probably explains why it disagrees with all the other research conducted in this field.

Sedentary behavior is linked to disease.

Not moving around enough can lead to many health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. For example, if you don’t walk much or sit for long periods without eating less, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 112%, and your risk of heart disease increases by 147% (6, 7).

Studies have found that walking less than 1,500 steps per day or sitting for a long time without reducing the calories you consume can significantly increase your body’s resistance to insulin. This insulin resistance is a significant factor in developing type 2 diabetes (9, 10).

Experts think that being inactive can directly contribute to insulin resistance, and this effect can occur in as little as one day.

What’s the takeaway?

People in Western societies sit too much. Sitting too much is not suitable for your health. If you have a job where you sit at a desk, you can try using a standing desk or take short walks during your workday. It’s essential to reduce the time you spend sitting, just like eating healthy and exercising regularly is essential.

Disclaimer:

Dr. Berner does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical diseases or conditions; instead, he analyzes and corrects the structure of his patients with Foundational Correction to improve their overall quality of life. He works with their physicians, who regulate their medications. This blog post is not designed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment, or services to you or any other individual. The information provided in this post or through linkages to other sites is not a substitute for medical or professional care. You should not use the information in place of a visit, consultation, or the advice of your physician or another healthcare provider. Foundation Chiropractic and Dr. Brett Berner are not liable or responsible for any advice, the course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other information, services, or product you obtain through this article or others.