How does a sedentary lifestyle affect longevity?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Reducing the total amount of time a person spends sitting up to less than three hours a day can prolong his life by two years, according to British scientists, whose findings are published in the British Medical Journal.
In addition, by reducing the time for watching TV up to two hours a day, you can "throw" yourself another 1.4 years of life, researchers conclude, analyzing the data of the National Health and Food Consumption Report for the period from June 2005 to October 2009.
Scientists also combined various data on sedentary lifestyles and mortality, including in their selection of five studies, covering 167 thousand people. This database was further analyzed taking into account the age and sex of patients.
By combining two data sets, the researchers approved a conditional index of the level of risk among the population to calculate the number of deaths associated with a sedentary lifestyle. The death rate from causes associated with long sitting was 27%, and the reasons for excessive love of watching TV - 19%.
The authors of the study constructed a schedule of life expectancy, according to which those people who spent on sitting for less than three hours a day lived two years longer. Like those study participants who watched television less than two hours a day. Their life expectancy was 1.38 years more.
Although researchers point out that their work is evaluative, and people who lead a sedentary lifestyle should not be deducted two years from their lives, they still remind that active people tend to have better health.
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