Staying Lapless

It appears that even the act of sitting down for longer periods of time increases the risk of an earlier death. A recent study queried the cause of about 11,000 deaths and isolated time spent sitting- less than 3 hours or more than six hours- and came up with the result that sitting was associated with mortality.

The study abstract concludes: "The time spent sitting was independently associated with total mortality, regardless of physical activity level. Public health messages should include both being physically active and reducing time spent sitting."

The study seems to come to an obvious conclusion- that a sedentary lifestyle is not conducive to a long life- but the startling thing for me is that the impact of sitting for long periods during the day is not erased by physical activity during the rest of the day.