Sitting all day can be a killer
Sitting all day might significantly boost the risk of lifestyle-related disease even if one adds a regular dose of moderate or vigorous exercise, scientists said today.
The health benefits of pulse-quickening physical activity are beyond dispute - it helps ward off cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, among other problems.
But recent scientific findings also suggest that prolonged bouts of immobility while resting on one's rear end might be independently linked to these same conditions.
"Sedentary time should be defined as muscular inactivity rather than the absence of exercise," a team of Swedish researchers concluded.
"We need to consider that we are dealing with two distinct behaviours and their effects," they reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
