Being sat down for too long each day could shorten your lifespan

In what could be a massive blow to office workers, bankers, and many more – Scientists have claimed that sitting down for too long each day can actually shorten your life. A U.S.-based report published online in the journal BMJ Open, has suggested that by limiting your seated time to a maximum of three hours daily, you can add an extra two years onto your life.

The report also highlights issues such as sitting down each day to watch television as being problematic. In fact, the researchers claim that those of us who sit down to watch no more than two hours daily, can prolong our lives for almost a year and a half.

An inactive and lazy approach to life amongst Brits has been pinpointed for increasing obesity levels and a basic lack of fitness, leading to serious health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and numerous more. The findings of this latest study may force people to reconsider their lifestyle and to become more active.

The latest analysis scrutinised past studies that had included a total of 167,000 adult subjects who were aged between 18 to 90 years. The experts took time to contrast how much time each individual had spent each day sitting down and watching television, and what age people had lived to.

The report was conducted by experts from the Louisiana University and they say that overall, 27% of the fatalities can be linked to some degree to excessive time spent sat down and 19% due to watching too much television.

Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation Natasha Stewart offered her opinions and advice to people, “It does highlight what we already know about sedentary behaviour being a risk factor for developing heart disease. And recent UK guidelines suggested we should all minimize the time we spend sitting down. We all need to be regularly active to keep our hearts healthy. So whether it’s by walking to the local shop rather than driving, or playing sport rather than watching it on TV, there are lots of ways to be more active and improve your health.”

Intriguingly though, some members of the Metropolitan police service actually collapsed at a recent passing out ceremony after being stood up for a long period of time. Jane White from the Occupational Safety and Health says that it is being static for too long what seems to be the main problem as it slows down the circulatory system, blood, oxygen and vital nutrients.

With so many office-based jobs, people clearly need to think about their day-to-day activities and how to avoid remaining static for the usual 8-hour day. Here are some tips to consider:

. Use a printer further away from your desk.
. Use stairs instead of lifts.
. Go out of the building and for a walk during your lunch break.
. Offer to make the tea and coffees for colleagues.
. Park your car further away than usual from the main entrance to your workplace.
. Speak to people in person when possible instead of using the telephone or emails.