A new investigation from the University of Sydney (Australia) showed that in the long term, standing rather than sitting does not improve cardiovascular health (coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure), and could increase the risk of circulatory problems related to standing, such as varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis.
The study, published in the “International Journal of Epidemiology”, discovered that sitting for more than 10 hours a day has increased so much risk of cardiovascular disease such as orthostatic incidence, which reinforces the need for greater physical activity throughout the day. Research also indicates that spending more time standing is not associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
Dr Matthew Ahmadi, lead author from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and deputy director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Center at the Charles Perkins Center, says there are other ways for people with a sedentary lifestyle to improve their cardiovascular health.
“The most important thing is that standing too much time does not compensate for a sedentary life and can be dangerous for the circulatory health of some people. “We found that increased standing does not improve long-term cardiovascular health and increases the risk of circulatory problems,” says Dr. Ahmadi.
Even though researchers They concluded that there were no health benefits to standing for long periods, warned of the danger of sitting for long periods, and recommended sedentary people or people who stand for long periods of time plan regular movements throughout the day.
“For people who sit for a long time regularly, including lots of incidental movement throughout the day, and structured exercise could be the best way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” says Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Centre.
“Take regular breakswalk, walk to a meeting, take the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use your lunch break to step away from your desk and move around a bit. In Australia we are entering the warmer months, so the weather is ideal for exercising without being in the sun or moving around,” he says.
Research by Professor Stamatakis and Dr Ahmadi published earlier this year found that around 6 minutes of intense exercise or 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercise per day They could help reduce the risk of heart disease even in people who are very sedentary for more than 11 hours a day.
The study was carried out using data on heart and circulatory diseases taken over a period of seven to eight years out of 83,013 UK adults who did not have heart disease at the start of the study and were measured using wrist-worn devices similar to a smartwatch.
The data used in the study was not explicitly collected on the use of standing, but rather measured cardiovascular and circulatory effects of increased standing. The use of permanent statuses in this study probably represents only a very small fraction of the total status.
