In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleHow Was This Study Conducted?How Does This Apply to Real Life?
In This ArticleView All
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In This Article
How Was This Study Conducted?
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
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We’ve reported many times over the years about the potentially detrimental effects of sitting too much, includingdementia, joint pain and headaches. There’s even some evidence that regardless of your formal exercise habits,sitting too many hours a day may increase your risk of dying of heart disease.
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And now, in a new study published June 11, 2024, inJAMA Network Open, researchers looked at the odds of healthy aging based on activity levels and sleep duration. Let’s take a look at what they found.
How Was This Study Conducted & What Does It Suggest?
Researchers took data from the Nurses’ Health Study starting in 1992 and followed 45,176 participants for 20 years. At the beginning of the study, the average age of participants was 60, and they were all free of major chronic diseases.
Researchers wanted to know how and if sedentary behavior (SB) and light physical activity (LPA) each—independently—affected the odds of healthy aging. “Healthy aging” was defined as surviving to at least age 70 with maintenance of four health domains, including being free of 11 major chronic diseases and having no impairment of physical function, memory or mental health. Participants who did not meet these four domains or died during the 20 years of follow-up were classified as “usual agers.”
Demographics and data were gathered, including age, education, marital status, annual household income, smoking history, alcohol use, medical history, family history, menopause status and diet quality.
In assessing participants’ sedentary and physical activity behaviors, they were asked:
Responses to the above questions ranged from 0 to 90 hours per week.
Researchers also wanted to know how often participants performed moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). They were asked how much time they spent doing nine different recreational activities, like group fitness, walking, running, cycling, etc. They also reported their usual walking pace in miles per hour and the average number of flights of stairs climbed daily.
In addition, participants were also asked about their average sleep duration in a 24-hour cycle.
Once all the data was collected, several statistical analyses were performed, including adjusting for confounding variables—which were the demographics collected at the beginning of the study—as well as BMI and sleep duration.
Several findings were presented:
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Researchers estimated that 61% of the usual agers could become healthy agers if they adhered to four lifestyle factors—and the same applies to any of us. The four factors include:
Only 11% of the participants met these guidelines.
The researchers note that the low-intensity non-exercise activities—LPA-Work and LPA-Home—make up a much higher percentage of the day than more vigorous, formal exercise does, and can make a significant difference in increasing the odds of healthy aging.
What does this mean for you?
If you work at a desk—at home or the office—consider getting a stand-up desk. Buying my standup desk has been one of my best investments. Besides cutting down on sitting time, standing up to work also makes it easy to accomplish some strength training while working—like squats, leg lifts, hip circles and heel raises.
Take breaks throughout the day to move. This might look like a 2-minute walk around the workplace, stretches at your workstation or some strength-training exercises (keep an exercise band in your desk). Sip on water throughout the day so you have to walk to fill your water bottle up more often—and walk to the bathroom to pee from all that water. While on a phone call or video meeting on your phone, stand up and walk around during it.
If you’re not currently gettinga brisk walkor some other form of moderate or vigorous exercise most days of the week, there’s no better time than now to start. Begin where you’re at and slowly progress to higher intensities. This includes strength training.
While there are manypaths to a healthy weight, areas you want to pay particular attention to include diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, stress and sleep. If you’re on amedication that makes it difficult to maintain a healthy weight, discuss your medication options with your medical practitioner and consult with a registered dietitian.
The Bottom Line
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Shi H, Hu F, Huang T, et al.Sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, and healthy aging.JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16300Empower.Dreamscrolling.
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Shi H, Hu F, Huang T, et al.Sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, and healthy aging.JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16300Empower.Dreamscrolling.
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Shi H, Hu F, Huang T, et al.Sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, and healthy aging.JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16300Empower.Dreamscrolling.
Shi H, Hu F, Huang T, et al.Sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, and healthy aging.JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16300
Empower.Dreamscrolling.
