Sitting on your own grave

If you're spending too much time on your behind, you're a sitting duck.

A new study finds that people who sit the most, die the earliest--and even a little exercise every day won't do much to help.

Researchers looked at data on more than 123,216 healthy adults collected over a 14-year period as part of a cancer study. After adjusting for risk factors such as obesity and smoking, the researchers found that women who sat more than six hours a day had a 37 percent higher death risk than those who sat for three hours a day or less.

Men, on the other hand, had a 17 percent increased risk of death when they sat for more than six hours a day. Men and women who sat for between three and five hours also had an increased death risk over those who sat for shorter periods.

That's good news for hairdressers, bartenders and landscapers... but not so good for office workers, bus drivers, and writers of health newsletters.

The researchers also found that people who engaged in regular exercise had a slightly lower death risk--but if they kept their meat in a seat most of the rest of the day, they were still far more likely to die than those who got more movement.

And people who sat the most and did no exercise at all were definitely not sitting pretty, because the study found those bad habits combined to increase the death risk in women by 94 percent, and in men by 48 percent, according to the study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Of course, this isn't the first time sitting has been linked to poor health. Studies have found that people who move the least have an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Seniors in particular should make sure they find ways to keep moving even after retirement. Many limit themselves because they fear falling or other forms of injury, or simply feel that the golden years are a time to ease off.

But while it's OK to make sure you stay within your limits at any age, it's not OK to limit yourself to the sofa: Studies have consistently found that steady movement is essential to senior health, and can help improve everything from your cardiovascular risk to arthritis pain.

Bottom line here: No matter how old you are or what you do for a living, don't stop exercising... but don't stop at exercising, either. Getting your blood pumping for 20-30 minutes a day isn't a license to slouch on the couch the rest of the time.

There are simple, natural ways to get moving again throughout the day no matter what you do for a living: Park farther away. Take the stairs instead of the elevator (for higher floors, take the stairs part of the way). And just get up and stretch every now and then.

And if you work a desk job and really want to keep moving, try a treadmill desk. I'm not kidding--they really do exist. Use your favorite search engine, like Google, to find some examples (as well as plans to turn your own treadmill into a walking office).

Just tell your coworkers that you've found a new way to keep up with the rat race.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls