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Sitting too long can leave many at risk for obesity and raise your risk for cancer and heart disease.
But sitting too little could also be immensely risky for some peoples’ overall health, a new decade-long study from Chinese researchers suggests.
The study of more than 41,000 Chinese adults showed that the lowest risk occurred when people sat for an average of four hours. Sitting for less than two hours or more than six hours was associated with a higher risk of adverse health outcomes.
So why is this the case?
The researchers say there are different benefits and drawbacks for different individuals, including a lower risk of sitting in active people. This is especially true for those who engage in physically demanding work and could benefit from reduced musculoskeletal strain or recovery time.
“While excessive sitting remains harmful, our findings suggest that the relationship between sitting and health is context-dependent,” the researchers explained in a statement. “In highly active individuals, a moderate amount of sitting may not be detrimental and could even be beneficial.”
Further evaluation revealed that peoples’ average time sitting each day could determine what may best benefit their health and lower their risk of death from any cause.
More than half of Chinese adults sit for less than four hours a day. Those people saw positive effects when they replaced 30 minutes of physical activity with sleep or sitting over the course of 11 years. Their risk of death dropped by between 4-6 percent.
However, people who sat more than four hours a day saw a similar or greater benefit when they replaced 30 minutes of sitting with physical activity.
“These findings are consistent with current recommendations to reduce excessive sitting and increase physical activity,” the Journal of Sport and Health Science noted in an accompanying release.
Notably, the study builds on years of research that says sitting for too long can be incredibly harmful for health, even in active and young adults.
Sitting for eight hours a day, like more than one in four Americans, increases body mass index and raises cholesterol, according to researchers at U.C. Davis.
And sitting for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity raises peoples’ risk of death similarly to risks from obesity and smoking, the Mayo Clinic says.
The average American sits over six hours a day.
“Studies have shown that sitting for more than 6-8 hours a day is associated with a 125-150 percent increase in risk of cardiovascular events,” Callie Davies, a sports medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, said in a statement.
