TOPIC OF THE MONTH - "Don't Just Sit There And Die!"

We all know that a sedentary life-style is an invitation to the increased probability of many chronic diseases. It is also no secret that the ”television age” and, subsequently, the ”computer age” was an introduction to the ”DE-exercising”—if there is such a term-- of America. But a recent review of data collected in Australia published in the professional journal ”Circulation” earlier this year was able to more accurately pinpoint the actual impact of non-active pursuits—such as extended hours of television watching and extended sitting times while at work—and the impact that it has on death rates! That’s right, death rates! Not just the incidence of chronic disease but death rates! The study was basically a verification of the results of a Canadian study completed in 2009 (”Circulation”, Jan. 2010;121:384-391) as well as similar research into the issue of the relationship between television viewing and prolonged sitting to increased rates of mortality—or death rates! Sorry about all of the exclamation points but we are literally ”sitting” ourselves to death !!

It is important to note that the Australian study referenced above included only television viewing time and not additional time spent in front of a computer surfing the web and/or playing video games in front of a television or computer screen. It should also be noted that the study did NOT find a significant correlation between television viewing time and cancer (although the results seemed to approach significant levels). As you might have guessed, the main disease consequence of prolonged television viewing centered on an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. There were 8800 adults (over the age of 25) in the study and the time line of the study was, on average, about six and one-half years. In other words, the disease incidence for all of the participants was measured and/or collected for a six and one-half year time frame as was the level of television viewing. Results were also adjusted or ”controlled” for each participant during the length of the study as to their level or amount of voluntary activity/exercise, age, gender and waist circumference. The level of television viewing was studied for three different time frames: those that viewed television for less than two hours daily, those that viewed for two to four hours daily and those that viewed for more than four hours daily.

The results after over six years showed that there was a ”dose response” related to the amount of television viewing. Not surprisingly, therefore, those participants that viewed the most television each day had a higher mortality (death) rate than those who watched the least. Also not surprisingly was that the main cause of death during that time period was related to increased incidence of cardiovascular disease as compared to other disease conditions such as cancer. It was also suggested in a related study (”Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise”, May 2010,42(5):879-885) and based on the results of the study, that a good disease ”prevention strategy” would be to reduce the length of sitting time as well as simply reducing television viewing time. In other words, get up and DO something—anything really—that will require the body to move rather than spending hours of uninterrupted time just sitting. Even a small amount of additional exercise, such as taking a break for a brisk walk or taking a few moments to get up from a seated position and move around in some way, WILL have an impact, however large or small, on the incidence of chronic disease and especially cardiovascular disease (diseases of the heart, lungs and circulatory system) brought on by what can only be called an ”ultra-sedentary” lifestyle. It should also be noted that even those in the study who did additional ”planned” exercise (in other words, they still worked out on a fairly regular basis) were not necessarily immune to the negative effects of ”extended” sitting times. It appears that part of the ”problem”, no matter how much regularly scheduled exercise we do, may be the amount of UNINTERRUPTED sitting time that we do.

Although extended television viewing time was shown to be directly related to health issues, the take home message is to get moving. If we add the negative effects of sedentary jobs, lack of “voluntary” activities (like a personal fitness program) as well as sitting in front of a television for hours on end, it should not be a shock to learn that we are slowly killing ourselves by doing, well... nothing! As I have preached for years and included in my book “Be Fit, Stay Fit—Why Your Workout Doesn’t Work... And How To Fix It”, regular exercise IS medicine! It is both preventative AND curative. If you have been inactive for any period of time, see your doctor and then get up and DO something. In other words, don’t just SIT there and die!

I’m Dr. Paul Kennedy and that’s the “Be Fit, Stay Fit” Topic of the Month” for September 2010.Good luck with YOUR program. I KNOW you can do it!