Women, make a move if you don't want to die younger
A new study has found that postmenopausal women with the highest amounts of sedentary time- defined as sitting and resting, excluding sleeping- die earlier than their most active peers.
The study of 93,000 postmenopausal American women led by Cornell University nutritional scientist Rebecca Seguin found that the association remained even when controlling for physical mobility and function, chronic disease status, demographic factors and overall fitness- meaning that even habitual exercisers are at risk if they have high amounts of idle time.
Seguin and co-authors found that women with more than 11 hours of daily sedentary time faced a 12 percent increase in all-cause premature mortality compared with the most energetic group - those with four hours or less of inactivity.
The former group also upped their odds for death due to cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and cancer by 13, 27 and 21 percent, respectively.
Seguin said, excess sedentary time tends to make it harder to regain physical strength and function. Women begin to lose muscle mass at age 35, a change that accelerates with menopause.
Regular exercise, especially lifting weights and other muscular strength-building exercises, helps to counteract these declines, but her research finds that more everyday movement on top of working out is also important for maintaining health.
The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
(Posted on 16-01-2014)
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