Medical Mythbuster: Can Sitting All Day Really Shorten Your Life?

If you would like to improve your health in 2025, consider spending more time walking and less time sitting. It may be a lot more beneficial than you think!

Whether at work or at home, our modern lifestyles have us spending more time sitting and a lot less time moving. All that time sitting in a chair or on the couch can really harm our health. One study, performed in Taiwan over a 13-year period and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was truly eye-opening. It found that those who sit most of the day at work have a 34% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. In addition, the study also showed a 16% higher risk of death for those who sit most of the day compared to those with more active jobs.

Sitting for extended periods has also been linked to other chronic medical problems, including lower back pain, type 2 diabetes, and an increased risk of depression and anxiety.

According to the study noted above, one of the best ways to lower your risk of health problems from too much sitting is to add 15 to 30 minutes of physical activity per day to your existing exercise routine.

If you don’t have time to get all the exercise you need, try adding small amounts of activity throughout the day. Simply getting up from your desk and taking a two to five-minute walk or going up and down some stairs can be helpful. Working at a standing desk, while not exercise, is also better than sitting all day. The important thing to keep in mind is that for better health you need to keep your body moving.

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