Prolonged sitting may increase mortality risk, regardless of daily exercise.

Moral of the story: take breaks if you sit at a desk all day, watch less TV, be more active

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 6/23/2010

Prolonged sitting may increase mortality risk, regardless of daily exercise.

The CNN (7/22) "The Chart" blog reported that a paper appearing in the American Journal of Epidemiology reveals that "people who spend more time sitting during their leisure time have an increased risk of death, regardless of daily exercise." In fact, after following some 123,000 healthy adults, American Cancer Society researchers "found women who spend over six hours a day sitting during leisure time (watching TV, playing games, surfing the web, reading) were 40 percent more likely to die sooner than women who spend less than three hours sitting," while "men...have a 20 percent increased risk of death." Investigators say that "prolonged time sitting suppresses" the immune system and may increase "resting blood pressure and cholesterol levels."