The National Heart Foundation is urging office workers to avoid sitting for long periods to decrease the risk of heart disease.
US medical researcher Professor Marc Hamilton has presented findings from several studies over the past decade to the foundation’s annual conference in Melbourne.
The studies show sitting for long periods can be dangerous to health, even when people exercise regularly, increasing the risk of heart disease and other conditions by 80 per cent.
Professor Hamilton says the same result was found in people who eat a low-fat diet and exercised daily.
“There are molecules in the body that are very potently invoked by when we sit even over short durations, even without changing our body weight,” he said.
“So we’ve found that even people who exercise regularly are a risk for this.
“Even people who are lean are a risk for this, so we’re not immunised by being lean and exercising and eating a healthy diet.”
Professor Hamilton says the negative effects of sitting can be seen even after an hour.
He recommends people do more work standing or walking.
The Heart Foundation is endorsing the approach, publishing a list of things people can do to mitigate the risks like standing up to talk on the phone or read the newspaper.
The foundation’s Graeme Lynch says it is not just office workers who are at risk.
“In the classroom, it’s about getting teachers encouraging children to move around the classroom, to designing classrooms where children don’t just sit to do their lessons,” he said.
“This isn’t just about our primary school children. This is in our colleges and our universities.”
Source : ABC News