Research
Adherence
High amounts of sedentary behavior increase the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and incident type 2 diabetes, with evidence graded as strong for these associations.
Sitting for long periods increases your risk of dying early and developing heart disease or diabetes, even if you exercise. To protect your health, try to break up long periods of sitting with light movement throughout the day, in addition to your regular exercise routine.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
The 2018 PAGAC Scientific Report concluded there was strong evidence that high amounts of sedentary behavior increase the risk for all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and incident CVD and type 2 diabetes.
Why this rating
The paper explicitly grades the evidence for these associations as 'strong'.
Source
Sedentary Behavior and Health: Update from the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee
Peter T. Katzmarzyk et al. · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2019
DOI 10.1249/mss.0000000000001935
Meta-analysis · 15 studiesCited 628×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- The hazardous effects of sedentary behavior on mortality are more pronounced in physically inactive people, and high levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) can attenuate but not fully eliminate the risk associated with high sedentary time.Strong
- There is moderate evidence that sedentary behavior is associated with the incidence of endometrial, colon, and lung cancer, but insufficient evidence to determine if bout length or breaks in sedentary behavior are associated with health outcomes.Good
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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