Sedentary behaviour – What it is and why should we do less of it?

Sedentary behaviour is the time you spend sitting or lying down (apart from sleeping). This can be at work, at home, during travel, and for leisure. The Australian guidelines recommend minimising the time spent being sedentary every day to, and breaking up long periods of sitting for as long as possible. This will reduce the risk of poorer health outcomes, like type two diabetes and heart disease. Even if you are physically active every day, you will still benefit from minimising sedentary behaviour.

Even small changes can make a huge impact. In fact, a recent study found that women over 60 years of age who cut their sedentary time by 1 hour every day, reduce their risk of heart disease by 26%.

Moving more doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some tips for getting started. For further support, an Accredited Exercise Physiologist can help you get on track.

– Set reminders on your phone to get moving
– Get up during TV ads or breaks at work
– Stand instead of sitting whenever you can
– Swap a sedentary activity with something active
– Walk places that you might normally drive to, where possible

Fo further information, visit
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/F01F92328EDADA5BCA257BF0001E720D/$File/brochure%20PA%20Guidelines_A5_Families.PDF
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.035312

Tamika Hassum
Accredited Exercise Physiologist