Take a break from sitting
It’s not only the total amount of time spent sitting, but also the way in which sitting time is accumulated during the day, that can affect the risk of early death, a new US study has found.
The study found that adults who sit for one to two hours at a time without moving have a higher mortality rate than adults who accumulate the same amount of sedentary time in shorter bouts.
Those with the greatest amount of sedentary time — more than 13 hours a day —and who frequently had sedentary bouts of at least 60 to 90 consecutive minutes had a nearly two-fold increase in death risk compared with those who had the least total sedentary time and the shortest sedentary bouts.
The scientist who led the study suggested that people with jobs involving sitting for prolonged periods of time should take a movement break every half hour – consistent with TUC advice on taking breaks from display screen equipment work, for example.