 Walking home from church under beautiful blue skies, in the crisp cool air on Sunday. The average American adult spends 9.5 hours a day sitting. Most of that time is a combination of work and leisure activity with about a 50-50 split between the two. Almost all (82%) of that leisure activity is spent watching screens like TVs, phones and computers. [American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 24 Jan. 2022]
We’ve known for a long time that the more a person spends being sedentary, the higher their likelihood of developing health issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer—all of which can increase the risk of early death. A recent study published this month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Nov. 2023) sought to examine just how much physical activity might be needed to offset the risk of inactivity. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/57/22/1457.full.pdf It turns out, in people ages 50 and older, sitting for more than 12 hours a day can increase the risk of early death by 38%—but only for those who got less than 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. In other words, being physically active for 22 minutes offset the increased risk of sitting for most of the day. The benefit were seen with an accumulation of at least 22 minutes a day. That is to say, they didn’t have to get it all at once. Activity beyond 22 minutes decreased the risk of dying prematurely even further. So, how can we increase our daily physical activity outside of exercise? How about parking the car at the far end of the WalMart parking lot instead of circling for 10 minutes looking for the closest parking space? Walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Other ideas may include:
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