Scientists have stated the risks of sitting for a long time, even with a large number of steps

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that high daily physical activity does not always fully compensate for the harm of prolonged sitting. The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Communications (NatCom).

"A sedentary lifestyle in itself is a separate risk factor that cannot be fully compensated by exercising or walking," the authors conclude.

Experts studied the data of 15,327 volunteers who, on average, wore fitness bracelets for activity tracking for 3.7 years. In total, the study covered about 13 million days of observations. On average, participants walked approximately 7.4 thousand steps per day, but they spent almost 12 hours sitting every day.

The analysis showed an association of prolonged sitting with an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, depression and cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, for a number of conditions, additional activity reduced the risks: for example, with hypertension and fatty liver disease, the positive effect stabilized after about 8 thousand steps per day.

However, in the case of coronary heart disease and heart failure, a high level of activity did not eliminate the risks completely if the person continued to sit a lot. In addition, the researchers noted that excessive exercise is also not always useful: the risk of coronary heart disease decreased to about 12,000 steps per day, but with higher activity, the indicators worsened again.

The authors of the work emphasized that not only the number of steps is important for health, but also the reduction of time without movement. In their opinion, regular breaks during sedentary work can be just as significant as daily physical activity.

Without unnecessary movements: is it possible to lose weight using the power of thought

Scientists have discovered a mechanism by which signals from the brain enhance energy consumption

Medical Xpress magazine reported on April 21 that a sedentary lifestyle is recognized as the fourth most important risk factor for death worldwide. Increasing the mobility of the population by only 10% will prevent up to 500 million premature deaths. Lack of physical activity provokes unique physiological changes that cannot be fully compensated by short workouts.