Sitting down is the new smoking: Here are three ways to quit

The average person sits over nine hours a day - and it's wrecking their health, according to research.

Did you know that as soon as you sit down, the electrical activity in your muscles drops and your calorie burning rate plummets to about one per minute?

And, according to NHS Direct, remaining seated for too long is bad for your health regardless of how much exercise you do. Studies have linked excessive sitting with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and premature death.

Prolonged sitting is also thought to slow the metabolism, which affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat.

Statistics show that millions of adults in the UK spend more than seven hours a day sitting or lying, and this typically increases with age to 10 hours or more. This includes watching TV, using a computer, reading, doing homework, travelling by car, bus or train – behaviours referred to as sedentary – but does not include sleeping.


One of the largest pieces of research to date on the subject – involving almost 800,000 people – found that, compared with those who sat the least, people who sat the longest had more than 100 % increase in getting diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Other studies suggest an increase in the risk of getting cancer.

So what are you waiting for? Time to get moving.