![How long can we sit still each day before putting our health at risk?](https://img.passeportsante.net/1000x526/2016-07-25/i63450-combien-de-temps-pouvons-nous-rester-assis-chaque-jour-avant-de-mettre-notre-sante-en-danger.jpg)
07/25/2016.
For many years, the media and doctors have advocated the need to move. It turns out that sitting too often can be harmful to our health. But after how long can it become harmful?
A company that wants to be seated
Since the dawn of time, our ancestors cultivated the land or hunted and have always lived on their feet. Today, with the advent of televisions, computers, and more office jobs, we sit for many hours during the day. We therefore spend 9.3 hours sitting, on average, that is to say more time than that spent sleeping (7.7 hours).
A new study has found that the increasing time spent sitting increases the risk of heart disease, strokes and heart attacks. Previous studies had also shown that not moving increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, stroke or high blood pressure.
We already spend seven to eight hours sitting at work
To carry out this study, the researchers analyzed data from the Embase and Medicine databases, and thus observed the data of 720,425 participants, aged 54.5 years on average over a period of 11 years. They also included lying down in their definition of “sedentary time”.
The research team therefore concluded that 10 hours was the time when the risk of getting heart problems became noticeable and increased. For some people, spending 10 hours sitting is not imaginable, but researchers believe that this time is easily achievable for most people. With the seven or eight hours at work, the 10 hours are easily conceivable, since we eat seated, we drive seated, we watch television and surf the Internet seated …
People who sit for an average of 12.5 hours are therefore 14% more likely to develop heart problems, compared to those who spend an average of 2.5 hours sitting each day. In contrast, for those who spend around 7.5 hours a day sitting, no risk has been proven. Researchers therefore encourage minimizing the time spent sitting and encourage the development of standing work and the practice of physical exercises.
Read also: Working seated for 10 years would double the risk of colon cancer