An Enormous International Study Just Confirmed The Ugly Truth About Sitting Too Much

Studies have shown that too much sitting is bad for your health.

The evidence is limited because it can't be studied in person. It's not as if the consequences of sedentary living have been studied in as much detail as it would be in an affluent country.

A study by an international team of researchers has shown that people in poorer parts of the world suffer worse effects from long days in one position.

In low income countries like Bangladesh, India, and Zimbabwe, the relationship between sitting and mortality was more pronounced.

Compared to people who sit less than four hours a day, sitting for six to eight hours a day increases the risk of heart disease and premature death.

The relative risk goes up to 20 percent if it goes up to eight hours or more.

Sitting for more than eight hours a day in low-income and lower-middle-income countries is more likely to cause death and heart disease than it is in high-income countries.

The study shows how widespread the problem is. Poverty plays a role in determining the ultimate impact of sitting on the body.

It is difficult to say why the discrepancy exists.

The differences in the association might be explained by the different domains and patterns of sitting behaviors across different income levels according to the researchers.

"That is, television viewing time is more common among people with lower socio- economic status and showed a stronger association with outcomes compared with other sitting behaviors."

While not all types of sitting are the same, the researchers found proof that exercise has a strong effect on mortality and cardiovascular disease.

The authors of the study found that sitting and being inactive accounted for less deaths than smoking.

For people who sit for more than four hours a day, replacing a half hour of sitting with exercise reduced the risk by 2%.

There's a chance for people to increase their activity and reduce their chances of dying young.

As persuasive as the message to move out of that chair might be, research shows we might not all have it so easy.

There are subtle differences in access to suitable areas for physical activity, opportunities to manage time and access to exercise, and motivation to prioritize, which could mean leaving the chair is more of a challenge when money is tight.

Over the past ten years, total sitting time for US adults has increased by just under an hour a day.

It's an hour we cannot afford to lose.

The research was published in a medical journal.