"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." – Hippocrates
For centuries, the absence of mechanisation meant exercise and being fit simply happened as part of everyday life. But modern transport and occupations mean sitting for eight hours a day is the norm. Add in television, tablets and smartphones and it is possible to spend one’s waking hours in a largely sedentary state.
Research just published by the medical journal The Lancet is a wake up call. The study of more than one million adults found that sitting for at least eight hours a day could increase the risk of premature death by up to 60 per cent. The authors say that sedentary lifestyles now pose as great a threat to public health as smoking.
In the study, participants from developed countries were classified by their levels of physical activity – from up to five minutes a day to more than an hour – and by the amount of time spent seated. This was then compared with death rates among the adult participants.
The results show that for those who sat for at least eight hours daily and managed less than five minutes’ activity, mortality rates were 9.9 per cent. But those who spent just as long seated, but exercised for an hour a day, saw death rates drop to 6.2 per cent.
The authors urge anyone spending long hours at their desk to take a five minute break away from their workstation every hour. They suggest getting off the bus some additional stops away from work and home as a relatively painless way of adding daily exercise. And they urge governments to ensure schools, urban planners and transport organisations collaborate so that greater levels of physical activity are built into everyday life.
This holiday season – as the start of the Olympic Games beckons – is an ideal time to show collective resolve to break the sedentary cycle and exercise more.