Prolonged action does not leave our body without consequences. Standing for long hours is not good for our health, but neither is sitting. Indeed, our body is made to move and not to stay in the same position for a long time. Note that staying still causes the crushing of our body since prolonged immobility prevents our system from eliminating the fats present in our blood. This implies the risk of developing chronic diseases. Therefore, it is advisable not to stay too long in your seat even if you have found a comfortable position.
Sitting too long linked to risk of early death
In order to better demonstrate the consequences caused by the fact of sit too long, an experiment was carried out. This study published in the journal JAMA Cardiology was carried out by an international team of researchers. For this, 100,000 people from 21 different countries were examined. According to the researchers, subjects from poor backgrounds generally remain in the same position for an entire day. It is therefore in Bangladesh, India and Zimbabwe that the researchers claimed to have identified the most people suffering from the consequences of this action.
Namely that sitting for 6 to 8 hours in a row is bad for our health. Indeed, it increases the possibilities of develop heart disease. During the experiment, approximately 12 to 13% of the participants were victims of a early death. Yet these people were only in the sitting position for 4 hours. According to the researchers, this percentage might increase by 20% if the subjects prolong their action by 4 hours.
Social class plays an important role
The researchers mentioned that people from poor backgrounds are most affected because, compared to individuals who have low socioeconomic status, they stay in the sitting position for much longer, such as watching TV for more than 4 hours. They also have bad eating habits. The researchers claimed that the effects are still reversible, since practicing physical activity can reduce the development of heart disease or reduce the risk of early death. This is why Scott Lear, a scientist from Simon Fraser University, advises to practice more physical activities rather than spending long periods of time in a sitting position.
