I came across this article today on Bloomberg News, titled "Sitting Less May Add Two Years To U.S. Life Expectancy."
Americans may add as many as two years to the nation’s life expectancy if they can stand up more often and watch fewer hours of television, a study found. While studies have shown that too much time sitting and watching TV are bad for a person’s health, today’s research is the first to show how reducing sedentary behaviors may increase life expectancy in the U.S., now about 78 years.
“It’s about the inactivity in your muscles,” Katzmarzyk, a professor of epidemiology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. “When you’re sitting your legs are completely inactive."
‘‘It’s not just about getting physical activity in your life. Just because you’re doing 30 minutes of physical activity, what about the other 23.5 hours,” he said. “Don’t just sit the rest of the day.”
Reducing sitting time to fewer than three hours a day may add two years to U.S. life expectancy and cutting TV viewing time to fewer than two hours a day may extend life by about 1.4 years, according to the study, which analyzed previous research, involving almost 167,000 adults.
Adding two more years to life sounds like a good plan! This isn't hard at all!
Americans may add as many as two years to the nation’s life expectancy if they can stand up more often and watch fewer hours of television, a study found. While studies have shown that too much time sitting and watching TV are bad for a person’s health, today’s research is the first to show how reducing sedentary behaviors may increase life expectancy in the U.S., now about 78 years.
“It’s about the inactivity in your muscles,” Katzmarzyk, a professor of epidemiology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. “When you’re sitting your legs are completely inactive."
‘‘It’s not just about getting physical activity in your life. Just because you’re doing 30 minutes of physical activity, what about the other 23.5 hours,” he said. “Don’t just sit the rest of the day.”
Reducing sitting time to fewer than three hours a day may add two years to U.S. life expectancy and cutting TV viewing time to fewer than two hours a day may extend life by about 1.4 years, according to the study, which analyzed previous research, involving almost 167,000 adults.
Adding two more years to life sounds like a good plan! This isn't hard at all!
