Sitting at a desk all day might feel easier than working out or doing physical labor, but it still takes a toll. In fact, it could lead to an increased risk of heart problems, according to new research.
In a study published this Friday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, investigators from Mass General Brigham provided evidence linking excessive sedentary behavior with higher chances of developing heat disease, especially heart failure and cardiovascular death. Sedentary life is defined as waking activity with low energy expenditure, spent sitting, reclining or lying down.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022 alone, it claimed 702,880 lives.
People who currently live a sedentary lifestyle could reduce their risk could be significantly reduced by adding more physical activities into their daily routine, said a press release from Mass General Brigham. However, just getting some exercise in at the end of the day might not be enough.
“Many of us spend the majority of our waking day sitting, and while there’s a lot of research supporting the importance of physical activity, we knew relatively little about the potential consequences of sitting too much beyond a vague awareness that it might be harmful,” said lead author Ezimamaka Ajufo, a cardiology fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Ajufo’s team, analyzed one week of activity-tracker data from nearly 89,530 individuals included in the UK Biobank prospective cohort to assess the association between time spent sitting and future risk of atrial fibrillation, heart attacks, heart failure, and death. Even for people who were moderately to vigorously psychically active for a guideline-recommended 150 minutes per day, there was still some risk, she explained.
“They found sedentary behavior was associated with higher risks of all four types of heart disease, with a marked 40-60% greater risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death observed when sedentary behavior exceeded 10.6 hours a day (not including hours spent sleeping),” said the press release. Atrial fibrillation and heart attack risks could be mostly eliminated by engaging in physical activity.
Shaan Khurshid, an electrophysiologist and faculty member in the Telemachus And Irene Demoulas Family Foundation Center for Cardiac Arrythmias at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-senior author of the study said the findings indicate that it is always better to sit less and move more when it comes to heart health. Next, the team plans to address the impact of sitting on other health outcomes.
“The research team hopes these findings will help inform future guidelines and public health efforts,” said Mass General Brigham. “They would like future prospective studies to test the efficacy of public health interventions that help people reduce the number of hours they spend being sedentary and see how that affects cardiovascular health.”
While many people can’t leave jobs that require them to be desk-bound, there are some options that could potentially bring more activity to people struggling with sedentary schedules. These include walking desks, which have become popular in recent years – basically treadmills tucked under a desk, as explained here in Vogue – as well as talking short breaks for activity throughout the day.