Don't forget the third type of exercise - not sitting for long periods

[JimJimJimJim]

Jim Marshall (not a doctor) said ... 

At our monthly phone-in meeting back in June 2012, Man #3 (wonder who he was?) spoke of three types of exercise –

aerobic (like walking, cycling, swimming);

strength (lifting, pushing, pulling); and

anti-sedentary (moving about regularly to avoid prolonged sitting undoing the good of the other types of exercise).

 

If you missed those minutes, you can click on this sentence to read them.

 

(A little bird tells me that Man #3 has the iPhone in his pocket quietly chirp every 30 minutes to remind him to get up and walk around a little.)

 

The article below by Emma George and her colleagues confirms the bad effect that prolonged sitting has.

 

Comparing those who sat for

• less than 4 hours,
  
• 4 to 6 hours and
  
• more than 8 hours a day,
  

they confirmed that the longer you sat, the poorer your health was.

... end Jim

 

Chronic disease and sitting time in middle-aged Australian males: findings from the 45 and Up Study

Emma S George1*, Richard R Rosenkranz1,2 and Gregory S Kolt1

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2013, 10:20 doi:10.1186/1479-5868-10-20

Published:    8 February 2013

© 2013 George et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Abstract

 

Background

Compared to females, males experience a range of health inequities including higher rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although sitting time is emerging as a distinct risk factor for chronic disease, research on the association of sitting time and chronic disease in middle-aged Australian males is limited.

 

Methods

A sample of 63,048 males aged 45-64 years was drawn from the baseline dataset of the 45 and Up Study – a longitudinal cohort study on healthy ageing with 267,153 participants from across New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. Baseline data on self-reported chronic disease (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, combined chronic diseases), sitting time, physical activity (Active Australia Survey), and a range of covariates were used for cross-sectional analyses. Crude (OR), partially and fully adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using binary logistic regression.

 

Results

Compared to those sitting <4 hours/day, participants reporting 4 to <6, 6 to <8, and ≥8 hours were significantly more likely to report ever having any chronic disease (AOR 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 – 1.12, p = 0.050; AOR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.16, p = 0.003; AOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.15, p = 0.002, respectively). Participants who reported 6 to <8 hours and ≥8 hours of sitting were also significantly more likely to report ever having diabetes than those reporting <4 hours/day (AOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.28, p = 0.016; AOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.09 – 1.33, p <0.001, respectively).

 

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that higher volumes of sitting time are significantly associated with diabetes and overall chronic disease, independent of physical activity and other potentially confounding factors. Prospective studies using valid and reliable measures into domain-specific sitting time in middle-aged males are required to understand and explain the direction of these relationships.