Sitting and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality].

Prolonged sitting and sedentary behavior comprises a major part of the modern lifestyle: at work, leisure (watching television, Internet) and commuting/traveling. Studies have shown that adults spend about half of their time at work and even more sitting. Similarly, a significant part of the leisure time is spent doing sedentary activities usually in front of a screen (TV or a computer). However, current recommendations focus on increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with almost no recommendations relating to sedentary activities. Recent evidence from several research papers showed deleterious relationships of sedentary behavior with cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and waist circumference). Furthermore, consistent independent associations have been observed between sitting time/sedentary behaviors and elevated all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality risk. Generally, these associations have persisted following adjustment for physical activity. Recent emerging findings have shown that breaking up sedentary time potentially has a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health (independent of total sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity). In this article, we review the association between the time spent in various sedentary activities (occupational, leisure and commuting/transportation) and cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In addition, we review the suggested mechanisms that explain the empiric associations.

Citation

Arthur Shiyovich, Vladimir Shlyakhover, Amos Katz. Sitting and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality]. Harefuah. 2013 Jan;152(1):43-8, 58, 57

Mesh Tags

PMID: 23461028

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