Sitting at home increases the risk of heart disease (but a sedentary job at the office does not)

There is sitting and sitting. Although prolonged sitting is seen as a major risk factor, it has been found that where and how we sit affects the level of risk. Sitting at a desk appears not to increase the risk of heart disease, whereas watching television at home on the sofa does. 

Earlier studies concluded that the more time a person spends sitting down, the more likely they are to suffer from heart disease and die prematurely. Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center have established that this view is overly simplistic. They studied the lives of 3592 black Americans, who are significantly more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease. During their study, the researchers found that the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease increased proportionally to the time people spent sitting at home. 

Prolonged TV viewing

Those who spent the most hours per day watching television, 4 hours or more, had a 50% higher risk of developing heart disease than those who watched television for 2 hours or less. However, based on nine years of data, the researchers found that sitting at a desk at work did not increase the risk at all. In fact, the amount of time spent behind a desk did not seem to matter. They are not quite sure why the risks associated with sitting at home and an office job are so different. Principal investigator Keith Diaz comments: “It may be that most people tend to watch TV for hours without moving whereas most office employees regularly stand up and walk away from their desks. The combination of a substantial meal, such as dinner, and then sitting for hours may also contribute to the harmful effects”. He adds that the simplest way of reducing this risk is to get up from your comfortable chair every so often and go for a stroll.