New Delhi: Sitting for long hours can be detrimental to health. Yet, those of us who work in corporates and other offices know it is unavoidable. Sitting for long stretches had become a norm during work at home at the time of the pandemic lockdown. Post it, remote working has become a variable option and people are not prone to stepping out for work. All the more reason that they spend sitting for long hours at home.
This translates to a sedentary lifestyle and a tendency to develop chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and several types of cancer, putting people at a much greater risk of early death. But just exercising daily may not reverse the harmful effects of sitting, according to an article in The Conversation.
So, what should be done?
To reduce the harmful health effects of sitting, take a five-minute light walk every half-hour. That’s the key finding of a new study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
A test was conducted on 11 healthy middle-aged and older adults to sit in the lab for eight hours (representing a standard workday) in the lab as part of the study, over the course of five separate days. On one of those days, participants sat for the entire eight hours with only short breaks to use the bathroom. On the other days, a number of different strategies were taken up to break up a person’s sitting with light walking. For example, on one day, participants walked for one minute every half-hour. On another day, they walked for five minutes every hour.
The goal was to find the least amount of walking one could do to offset the harmful health effects of sitting. In particular, changes in blood sugar levels and blood pressure, two important risk factors for heart disease were measured. It was found that a five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood sugar levels substantially compared with sitting all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood sugar spike after eating by almost 60%.
That strategy also reduced blood pressure by four to five points compared with sitting all day. But shorter and less frequent walks improved blood pressure too. Even just a one-minute light walk every hour reduced blood pressure by five points.
Current guidelines recommend that adults should ‘sit less, move more.’But these recommendations don’t provide any specific advice or strategies for how often and how long to move.
The study recommends taking a five-minute light walk every half-hour. If you have a job or lifestyle where you have to sit for prolonged periods, this one behaviour change could reduce your health risks from sitting. The study also offers clear guidance to employers on how to promote a healthier workplace. While it may seem counterintuitive, taking regular walking breaks can actually help workers be more productive than working without stopping.
