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back to article Sitting down all day is killing you

A study of more than 220,000 people aged 45 or more has come to a startling conclusion: sitting down all day is killing you. The 45 and Up study compared mortality rates among those who sit for many hours a day and those who spend less time perched on their posterior. The study used “... questionnaire data from 222 497 …

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  1. Ken 16 Silver badge
    Coat

    Statistics

    Didn't El Reg recently highlight the misuse of statistics?

    "40% higher than those who spend less time on their behinds. Even those who sit for just eight hours a day have a 15% “better” chance of death"

    What's the baseline for those percentages? Is it going from 71 people out of 100 will die to 100 out of 100 will people will die or from 7 out of 10,000,000 will die to 10 out of the same number dying? Is it better to get off your arse and jog in heavy traffic or bungee jump or will the dangers of those outweigh the benefits of being vertical?

    Finally, would you rather die comfortably in your seat during an 11 hour flight or climb out into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic?

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    1. Some Beggar
      Reply Icon
      Headmaster

      Re: Statistics

      If you click through to the summary of the study you get this:

      "During 621 695 person-years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 2.8 years), 5405 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality hazard ratios were 1.02 (95% CI, 0.95-1.09), 1.15 (1.06-1.25), and 1.40 (1.27-1.55) for 4 to less than 8, 8 to less than 11, and 11 or more h/d of sitting, respectively, compared with less than 4 h/d, adjusting for physical activity and other confounders. The population-attributable fraction for sitting was 6.9%."

      There's nothing on the proportions of the population who fall into each of the groups so there's not enough information to give an accurate estimate of actual risk. But the total population had a mortality rate of about 0.87% per year. A 40% increase would be about 1.2%, but the 40% is (as far as I can tell) the ratio above the portion of the population who sit for less than 4 hours a day rather than the entire population so the actual figure will be less than this.

      It's not enough to make me leap out of my chair and go for a jog.

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  2. Bush_rat
    Trollface

    Easy Solution

    Power all computers by tredmill, then roster whose turn it is to go gerbil.

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  3. Truffle

    Holy smokes

    I was so shocked my this article...

    I had to sit down.

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  4. Red Bren
    Flame

    Smoking is good for you

    Going for regular fag breaks will save your life? Guess I picked the wrong week to give up smoking...

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  5. adnim
    Coat

    I'm OK.

    I work from home and I sit at a PC all day. As I don't smoke in the house I have to get up and walk outside for a ciggie at regular intervals.

    3 0
    1. Ken Hagan Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: I'm OK.

      So in your case, sitting down all day would be the healthier option.

      3 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Will standing at the bar save my life?

    0 0
  7. Graham Wilson
    Flame

    What's more risky--PC or iPod?

    What's more risky, sitting on your bum surfing the Internet or doing it on an iPod whilst obliviously walking across busy streets.

    Going by my vehicle's many recent close encounters of the iPod kind, I'll take the risk of sitting at my PC.

    (At least they'll be able to carry me off to the morgue in one piece instead of being washed off the roadway with a powerful hose.)

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  8. Silverburn

    Cycling

    I cycle to my IT desk job 3x a week.

    So as well as spending 40 hours a week at a desk, I spend an additional 9 hours perched on the most uncomfortable seat on Earth, while my HR sits at 170+ bpm for at least a quarter of those.

    Am I doomed?

    1 1
    1. Graham Wilson
      Reply Icon
      Holmes

      @silverburn -- Re: Cycling -- Probably, that's unless...

      ...you take the Donald Rumsfeld option: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_desk

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    2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Cycling

      Yer doomed, doomed, DOOOMED!!!!!

      Private Fraser

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    3. Colin Millar
      Reply Icon

      Re: Cycling

      You may not be doomed but you are probably destined for a painful old age. And because you will have such a strong CV system it will probably be a long painful old age.

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    4. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cycling

      > Am I doomed?

      Depends. Do you observe traffic signals?

      If so, you're the only $%^&ing commuter cyclist who does.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Phew

    Thank goodness I'm only 44...

    0 0
  10. Nick Wallis

    Am I that old?

    Guess I picked the wrong week to give up smoking...

    made me smile.

    Now, who wants a brew...

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  11. NomNomNom

    Another reason it's a bad idea to sit still for extended periods of time is snipers. Did the researchers even rule out snipers as explaining the correlation?

    8 1
  12. Kane
    Terminator

    Totally read the sub heading...

    with Arnie's accent.

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  13. Melanie Winiger

    We should all take up smoking

    So we can get some regular exercise.

    Ahem...

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  14. TWB

    Remote support can be bad.

    As someone who *could* email or phone everyone I have to deal with at work, I make it a principle to get off my arse and go and see people at work - it has multiple benefits, not just health. Some issues are best seen first hand, and some issues need to be dealt with face to face and it is amazing how much better some people feel if they 'see someone' even when I don't sort out their problems - I just wish more of my colleagues would do this.

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  15. Julius Deane
    Devil

    Or you could just

    Walk outside for a smoke every hour or so. Bet you'd live longer...

    0 1
  16. JimM

    Lie down instead!

    The way I interpret the article, it is specifically sitting down, in a chair, that's bad for you and not inactivity in general. Chairs constrict your motion, where as lying down or sitting on the ground allow you to move more freely.

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  17. Anonymous Coward 15
    Holmes

    Newsflash

    You're all going to die. It might be cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or the number 72 bus. You cannot eliminate all risk, nor should you want to- what would life be with neither work, nor rest, nor play?

    40% on top of something small, is still pretty small.

    2 1
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Newsflash

      Speak for your self, I intend to live forever. It's working out fine so far....

      1 0
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Newsflash

        Sounds like a plan!

        I for one intend on visiting the Moon, Mars, the rings of Saturn, Jupiter's moons and after that i'll take a break and see where too next!

        Of course i'll probably work myself to death trying to pay for it!

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  18. Werner McGoole
    Stop

    Yes, living a good life is pretty dangerous

    It's only better to stop and make tea if tea-making is safe. Have you studied the statistics for tea-related mortality (or even just burning yourself on the kettle)? Enquiring minds need to know these things.

    If things go on like this, we'll soon be doing nothing but running around (assuming running is proved safe) to find the least-hazardous activity at each point in the day and never achieving anything. Remember that quite a few important break-thoughs in science have required substantial personal risk-taking. Marie Curie and Benjamin Franklin spring immediately to mind.

    We all know you don't get anywhere by never taking risks. I think this sort of study is now showing that you can never enjoy yourself without taking risks either.

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  19. Triggerfish

    Years ago a plumber to our offices removed a load of sludge from the botttom of blocked urinal pipes, he claimed it was basically the same stuff that formed kidney stones and that he always saw it in offices were people sat down a lot as not moving around never got the kidneys working properly.

    Dont know how true that is, but just from things like general fitness I notice a big difference from a job where you sit all day to one where you are just doing things like walking around a lot between offices.

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    1. Some Beggar
      Reply Icon
      Facepalm

      @Triggerfish

      Do you take all your medical advice from a bloke who cleans piss troughs for a living?

      2 1
      1. Triggerfish
        Reply Icon

        Re: @Triggerfish

        No which is why it also says I don't know how true that is. Try reading it fully.

        As for walking between offices sorry was just being generalistic, I happened to work for some small teams and could never see the point of playing the manager who sits on his arse when I could be helping people shift stuff that needed shifting

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    2. MahFL22
      Reply Icon

      Someones not runing a bussiness correctly if all their employees spend a lot of their time just "walking" between offices.

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  20. mark 63 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    sofa

    i counter this problem by lying on the couch all night

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  21. MahFL22

    I can go for several walks around the bulding each day, which sure helps "butt ache".

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  22. CraigW

    but I just sat down

    aw man, I only just got sat down as well.

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  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah...

    So getting up and going outside for a fag is good for you!

    Brilliant.

    (Someone might need to translate this for the colonials.)

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  24. MahFL22

    An ex boss of minje used a homemade desk to standup and use his laptop on, he said it helped his bad back. I guess after a few weeks your legs would get used to it.

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  25. RegW

    You don't scare me

    Get your own bloody tea

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  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I was probably healthier when I smoked

    ...and, working in a non-smoking office meant going outside for every puff.

    Even better when the building managers banned smoking outside the main door, and we had to walk up and down the street.

    Heyho ... I'll go and make that cup of tea.

    0 1
  27. Stefing
    Unhappy

    I would if I could

    I have Degenerative Disc Disease - so more than the slightest bit of exercise isn't really an option.

    But HEY! Thanks for reminding me that not only am I in near-constant pain but that my life expectancy is also impacted.

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  28. b166er

    Guess I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.

    Striker..Striker..STRiker..STRiker..SRIKE-HER

    I've had a standing desk for just over a month now and I'm really liking it. I've got a high-lift gas chair, you know, like the lab ones, under it too for the occasional perch. It's probably reversed the standing/sitting ratio and I can now sit down in the evening and feel like I've taken the weight off my feet.

    I recommend it.

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  29. Triggerfish

    @Some Beggar

    Ok

    So Plumber claims gunk that blocks urinal pipes is congealed urea, often found in offices where people sit a lot, and is basically the sort of stuff that forms kidney stones.

    Quick google seems to say there is a link between being sedentary and kidney stones.

    article you are posting on is about health risks of sitting down.

    Maybe plumber did have a better undertsaning of the renal sytem than you after all.

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    1. Some Beggar
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: @Some Beggar

      If it's being pissed into the urinal then it isn't forming kidney stones.

      Your plumber knows nothing about medicine. You are an idiot if you take seriously any sort of medical advice from a plumber. Herp derp. Herp di derp derp.

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  30. FunkyEric
    Pint

    In Germany

    I saw these rather funky electric height adjustable desks you could sit or stand at depending on your mood. Always thought they were a wonderful idea, but then they also had massive amounts of space per person compared to the pitiful conditions we have to work in here in the UK. Oh and a vending machine that dispensed beer. :-) In the office. Honest!

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  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    heroic

    Go ahead without me, save yourselves, it's too late for me...

    0 0
  32. BlinkenLights
    WTF?

    Lying Down?

    If sitting down all day is bad for you, what about lying down for 8 hours every night? It's got to be even worse, surely?

    0 0
  33. npo4
    Meh

    Well, guess I'm gonna die sooner then...

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  34. John 48
    FAIL

    Is there any chance we could have some stats reporting that actually means something?

    I do get fed up with all these reports that say "doing x means y is 40% more likely to happen", but then give you no clue whatsoever as the likelihood of y happening if you don't do x!

    How do I know if I should be worried about a 40% increased risk in something without, knowing what the baseline risk was in the first place?

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  35. daveeff

    standing desk

    My company (v. afraid of being sued) gave me a desk I can stand up at (motorized! at who knows what cost!). They also gave me two mains sockets.

    The fact I have 4 computers, 2 printers, a sep scanner, serial / usb / parrallel, cat5 mains cables (12+) means raising and lowering the desk is not really an option.

    Dave

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    1. Some Beggar
      Reply Icon

      Re: standing desk

      Have you thought about asking your employer why they've arranged the office such that all that crap needs to be on your desk?

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