Why Sitting Too Much Can Be A Deadly Habit

There's nothing better than plopping right on the couch after a long day sitting at work. It's true, work is exhausting regardless of the amount of physical activity you exert. Apparently, doing this at the end of the day is a very dangerous activity, though, according to science. Believe it or not, a significant portion of the world dies merely because they sit a lot. This can't be true...

I'm going to fill you all in on this frightening finding. 

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Sitting is a human pastime, especially in the modern era. 

We sit a lot these days, and it's killing us, slowly but surely. Science is learning more and more about how sitting for too long can ultimately lead to death. 

In fact, a new study found that roughly 4% of all deaths worldwide result from inactivity. 

Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and San Jorge University in Zaragoza, Spain looked at data from 54 different countries between 2002 and 2011 to determine what relationship sitting time has with mortality rates. 

This is quite an important question as other research has shown that sitting can be bad for your health even if you meet the recommended amount of physical activity in a day. 

Essentially, even if you consider yourself physically active, if you sit for extended periods of time in your day, it can be damaging.

In a world where hours are spent every day at a desk very similar to this one right here, this is troubling to hear. 

The researchers found that most people in the world (60%) spend more than three hours a day just sitting. The average time people actually sit is 4.7 hours a day. 

You're probably wondering which countries spend the most time sitting, right?

A map from the study itself paints a horrifying picture...

This map shows rates of sitting across the world. 

Countries with deeper red color sit more. To be precise, the red indicates what percentage of people sit more than three hours a day. 

The countries with the highest death rates linked to excessive sitting were Lebanon (11.6%) and the Netherlands (7.6%). The United States came in above average with 4.2%. 

So what's the deal with sitting? Why does it cause so much death?

The specific reason that sitting is bad for your health even when you're physically active isn't completely clear. Policy makers and politicians find this topic incredibly important as the health care burden resulting from sitting is quite substantial. 

There are some hints out there, though.

Sitting has been tied to an increase in deaths of all types, but the most common culprits are familiar to most of us. Heart disease has been tied to inactivity as well as type 2 diabetes and cancer. 

The researchers suggest that even small amounts of activity can reduce death rates from sitting. 

Reducing sitting by as little as 30 minutes could reduce deaths by 0.6% worldwide. Just a little bit of extra dance time during the day, I say. 

COMMENT letting us know how much you sit every day.

h/t Huffington Post