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Sedentary lifestyles and healthy aging: what does the research say?
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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It's tempting to watch TV nonstop, but another study shows that for healthy aging, the less time you spend on the couch, the better.
The study analyzed 20 years of data from more than 45,000 participants. All were over 50 in 1992 and had no chronic diseases when they entered the study.
The researchers tracked habits such as time spent sitting at work, at home, and in front of the TV, as well as hours spent standing or walking at home or work. All of this data was compared with information about how well (or not) the participants aged over time.
What is “healthy aging”? According to a team from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, it meant living to age 70 or older without major chronic diseases, without memory impairment, and in generally good physical and mental health.
One activity - watching television while sitting - was particularly unhealthy, the researchers found.
"Replacing TV time with light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, or sleep [in sleep-deprived participants] was associated with better odds of healthy aging," wrote a team led by Dr. Molin Wang, an assistant professor of medicine in Harvard's department of epidemiology.
More specifically, every hour a day that sedentary time in front of the TV was replaced by even “light” physical activity at home (such as routine household chores) increased a person’s chances of living to a healthy age of 70 or more by 8%.
If that hour of TV watching was replaced with "moderately intense" physical activity (such as exercise), the chances of healthy aging increased by 28%, the study found.
Even people who slept less than the recommended seven hours a night reap the benefits of healthy aging if they added an extra hour of sleep each day instead of an hour spent watching TV on the couch.
The results of the study were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, said watching TV seems like a particularly unhealthy activity — and not just because you're not moving.
"When people sit in front of the TV, it's usually accompanied by other unhealthy behaviors, such as eating junk food, eating ready-made dinners, not socializing with others, and even disrupting their sleep," said Freeman, who was not involved in the new study.
And exercise — in any form and for any length of time — can change that. It’s “a truly incredible way to reduce your risk of heart disease and blood pressure,” Freeman said.
"My very strong advice is that at work, if possible, use a standing desk or even a treadmill if you have the space and the opportunity," Freeman said. "If you're sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time, that's too long in my opinion, and you should really try to move around a little bit."