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Prolonged daily sitting responsible for 3.8% all-cause mortality

Eliminating sitting time would increase life expectancy by 0.2 years in countries worldwide, researchers recently reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Their findings indicate the need for additional interventions to reduce sitting time and increase physical activity.

"Physical inactivity is associated with major noncommunicable diseases and all-cause mortality," Leandro Fórnias Machado de Rezende, MSc, department of preventive medicine, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Brazil, and colleagues wrote. "It is estimated that 31% of the global population does not meet current physical activity recommendations. The burden of disease attributable to inactivity was recently estimated to be responsible for 6%-9% of the total deaths worldwide. However, the traditional approach for defining physical inactivity is limited because the physiologic benefits of lower-intensity physical activity are overlooked."

The researchers analyzed sitting data from various sources, including the Eurobarometer, WHO STEPwise approach to Surveillance and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, from 54 countries.

Results showed that a sitting time of more than 3 hours per day accounted for 433,000 (3.8%) of deaths per year in those countries. Mortality associated with sitting was higher in countries in the Western Pacific region, and in European, Eastern Mediterranean, American and Southeast Asian countries.

"It was observed that even modest reductions, such as a 10% reduction in the mean sitting time or a 30-minute absolute decrease of sitting time per day, could have an instant impact in all-cause mortality (0.6%) in the 54 evaluated countries, whereas bolder changes (for instance, 50% decrease or 2 hours fewer) would represent at least three times fewer deaths versus the 10% or 30-minute reduction scenarios," de Rezende and colleagues wrote.

They noted that their estimates assumed independence between sitting time and physical inactivity, which still needs more research.

"The present findings support the importance of promoting active lifestyles (more physical activity and less sitting) as an important aspect for premature mortality prevention worldwide, and therefore the need for global action to reduce this risk factor," de Rezende and colleagues concluded.

The researchers explained that while some individual-focused interventions such as Internet-delivered programs have demonstrated moderate impact, “only interventions aimed at tackling the macro determinants of sedentary behavior will be able to achieve the bolder scenarios assumed in the analysis.” They highlighted approaches that have been implemented throughout the world, such as bicycle sharing, strategic health communication and a sustainable transport system. – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes

Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.