Risk of premature death increases if you sit for a long time, study says – Today’s news

A study carried out by researchers at the University of California warns that sitting for a long time increases the risk of dying early by 57%.

Whether in front of the computer at work or in front of the television at home, the reality is that a large part of the world’s population sits for long periods of time throughout the day. This has health risks and can even lead to premature death, warns a new study cited by Science Alert.

The study from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), brought together around 5,856 female participants aged between 63 and 99 years old and using artificial intelligence the experts were able to calculate, using an activity monitor, how long The participants sat down and then related this data to the risk of death.

According to the study, participants who sat for more than 11 hours a day had a 57% greater risk of dying during the study period than those who sat for less than nine and a half hours a day.

For researchers, regular physical exercise does not combat the risks of sitting for long periods of time. The risk of premature death continues to exist even with greater amounts of physical exercise, which reinforces the conclusions of another study carried out in 2019 which showed that doing more physical exercise did not mean having less risk of diseases, such as type two diabetes, heart disease and strokes, which occur when we sit too long.

However, a study carried out in Australia guarantees that taking between 9,000 and 10,500 steps a day reduces the risk of premature death, even in people who sit for a long time.

According to the news website Science Alert, the contradictory results of the studies can be explained by the fact that the activity monitors were used by participants differently in each study.

In the UCSD study, the activity monitor was worn on the participants’ hip and in the Australian study on the wrist, which can lead to different estimates of sitting time. The Australian study did not use any special software that differentiated between standing still and sitting.

For the World Health Organization, the most recommended thing is that sitting time be limited and controlled for not too long periods of time.