Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk

Abstract

Compared with our parents or grandparents, we are spending increasing amounts of time in environments that not only limit physical activity but require prolonged sitting—at work, at home, and in our cars and communities.1 Work sites, schools, homes, and public spaces have been (and continue to be) re-engineered in ways that minimize human movement and muscular activity. These changes have a dual effect on human behavior: people move less and sit more. From an evolutionary perspective, humans were designed to move—to locomote and engage in all manner of manual labor throughout the day. This was essential to our survival as a species. The recent shift from a physically demanding life to one with few physical challenges has been sudden, occurring during a tiny fraction of human existence. Societal indicators of reductions in human energy expenditure and increases in sedentary behavior during the past several decades are particularly striking. In 1970, 2 in 10 working Americans were in jobs requiring only light activity (predominantly sitting at a desk), whereas 3 in 10 were in jobs requiring high-energy output (eg, construction, manufacturing, farming).2 By 2000, more than 4 in 10 adults were in light-activity jobs, whereas 2 in 10 were in high-activity jobs.2 Moreover, during the past 20 years, total screen time (ie, using computers, watching television, playing video games) has increased dramatically. In 2003, nearly 6 in 10 working adults used a computer on the job and more than 9 in 10 children used computers in school (kindergarten through grade 12).3 Between 1989 and 2009, the number of households with a computer and Internet access increased from 15% to 69%.3 Other significant contributors to daily sitting time—watching television and driving personal vehicles—are at all-time highs, with estimates of nearly 4 hours and 1 hour, respectively.4,5 Scientists studying the ill effects of this decrease in physical activity have revealed a complex, multifaceted relationship among physical work, energy expenditure, and health.6,7 Clinical and basic research has focused on the benefits of incorporating regular bouts of exercise into modern life to adjust to some extent for the loss of the physically active life led by our ancestors.6 Current public health recommendations propose engaging in at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity to help prevent and manage multiple chronic conditions, notably cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some cancers.7 The evidence base that supports this exercise recommendation is substantial. (Here, we use the terms exercise and moderate-to-vigorous activity interchangeably, recognizing that, by some definitions, exercise refers specifically to intentional activity carried out for health/fitness purposes.7) Those who do not exercise have by convention been termed sedentary. However, this is no longer an adequate perspective. Recent epidemiologic evidence suggests that the metabolic and long-term health consequences of habitual sedentary behavior (too much sitting) are distinct from those associated with a lack of moderate-to-vigorous activity (too little exercise).8,9 This shift in perspective is being clarified through innovations in technology used to characterize movement patterns in populations.