Sitting for long periods is bad for your health

The study authors said that every additional hour in a sedentary position, whether you are in sitting in front of idiot box, computer or lounging in the recliner, apparently raises your odds of type-2 diabetes by 22%.

In an experiment to know the relationship between the duration of a sedentary behavior and resulting metabolic syndrome, 2,000 participants with an average age of 60 were given a standard glucose tolerance test after an overnight fast to determine their diabetes status.

Another new study, this one from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, adds to accumulating evidence that has caused some to call sitting for long stretches “the new smoking”, due to its adverse health effects. Researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzing health data of 133,353 women with neither type 2 diabetes nor heart disease. These results suggest that sedentary behaviour may play a significant role in the development and prevention of type 2 diabetes, although longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings.

The study included 2,497 participants from the Maastricht study. To measure the participants’ sugar levels, they underwent an oral glucose tolerance test.

To measure their sedentary behavior, the participants were made to wear the activPAL on their thigh for 24 hours per day for 8 days in a row.

There are many lifestyle factors that can contribute to a person’s type 2 diabetes risk, including poor diet, lack of activity, and even poor sleep.

Since current methods of injecting insulin are uncomfortable and require users to be constantly keeping track of their blood and sugar levels, and being aware of the amount of insulin they are taking, an experimental artificial pancreas was developed to fulfill these tasks.

According to the World Health Organization, physical inactivity is recognized as the fourth-leading risk factor for death – not just for Americans, but for all people globally.

They found that participants with type 2 diabetes spent the most time sedentary – up to 26 minutes more each day compared with those who did not have diabetes.

Overall, 1,395 (56%) participants had a normal glucose metabolism, 388 (15%) had an impaired glucose metabolism and 714 (29%) had type 2 diabetes. During that time, van der Berg’s team calculated daily sedentary time, the number of sedentary breaks, prolonged sedentary periods – 30 minutes or more – and the average length of these sedentary periods.

“This provides us with more information about which pathways we should target to treat diabetes”. No significant associations were seen for the number of sedentary breaks, the number of prolonged sedentary periods or average duration of these sedentary periods with diabetes status.