Trading your 2-minute sitting time with walking can lower your risk of dying early by 33 percent. That swap is enough to offset the health hazards associated with prolonged sitting, according to a new study.
Earlier studies suggest that prolonged sitting increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death, even among people who exercise regularly. Health experts have long recommended exercise to lower these risks, but 80 percent of Americans are unable to meet the recommended amount of exercise.
Researchers at the University of Utah Health Sciences initiated the study to find an alternative to exercise and if casual walking can do the trick instead.
The team looked at the data of 3,243 participants from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a program that combines interviews and physical examinations to assess the health of the participants. They compared the health benefits of spending longer time doing low-intensity activities such as standing, with light-intensity activities like casual walking. During the three-year follow-up period, 137 of the participants died due to different reasons.
The analysis showed that standing for two minutes per hour has no effect on one's health, compared to casual walking, which effectively reduced premature death by 33 percent.
The researchers computed that two minutes of casual walking per hour during the 16-hour wake time sums up to 400 kcal burned. That is almost close to the 600 kcal weekly goal of moderate exercise.
"Based on these results we would recommend adding two minutes of walking each hour in combination with normal activities, which should include 2.5 hours of moderate exercise each week," Srinivasan Beddhu, study author and professor of internal medicine, said in a press release.
The study was published in the April 30 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
