Skip to main content

Too little exercise and too much sitting: Inactivity physiology and the need for new recommendations on sedentary behavior

Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports volume 2, Article number: 292 (2008) Cite this article

Abstract

Moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity has an established preventive role in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some cancers. However, recent epidemiologic evidence suggests that sitting time has deleterious cardiovascular and metabolic effects that are independent of whether adults meet physical activity guidelines. Evidence from “inactivity physiology” laboratory studies has identified unique mechanisms that are distinct from the biologic bases of exercising. Opportunities for sedentary behaviors are ubiquitous and are likely to increase with further innovations in technologies. We present a compelling selection of emerging evidence on the deleterious effects of sedentary behavior, as it is underpinned by the unique physiology of inactivity. It is time to consider excessive sitting a serious health hazard, with the potential for ultimately giving consideration to the inclusion of too much sitting (or too few breaks from sitting) in physical activity and health guidelines.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References and Recommended Reading

  1. Haskell WL, Lee IM, Pate RR, et al.: Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation 2007, 116:1081–1093.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Haskell WL, Lee IM, Pate RR, et al.: Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007, 39:1423–1434.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pate RR, Pratt M, Blair SN, et al.: Physical activity and public health. A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA 1995, 273:402–407.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hamilton MT, Hamilton DG, Zderic TW: The role of low energy expenditure and sitting on obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes 2007, 56:2655–2667.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tremblay MS, Esliger DW, Tremblay A, et al.: Incidental movement, lifestyle-embedded activity and sleep: new frontiers in physical activity assessment. Can J Public Health 2007, 98(Suppl 2): S208–S217.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hagstromer M, Oja P, Sjostrom M: Physical activity and inactivity in an adult population assessed by accelerometry. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007, 39:1502–1508.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, et al.: Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2008, 40:181–188.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Owen N, Leslie E, Salmon J, Fotheringham MJ: Environmental determinants of physical activity and sedentary behavior. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2000, 28:153–158.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Morris JN, Heady JA, Raffle PA, et al.: Coronary heartdisease and physical activity of work. Lancet 1953, 265(6795):1053–1057; contd.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Morris JN, Heady JA, Raffle PA, et al.: Coronary heartdisease and physical activity of work. Lancet 1953, 265(6796):1111–1120; concl.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Taylor HL, Klepetar E, Keys A, et al.: Death rates among physically active and sedentary employees of the railroad industry. Am J Public Health Nations Health 1962, 52:1697–1707.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Matthews CE, Chen KY, Freedson PS, et al.: Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors in the United States, 2003–2004. Am J Epidemiol 2008, 167:875–881.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dunstan DW, Salmon J, Owen N, et al.: Physical activity and television viewing in relation to risk of undiagnosed abnormal glucose metabolism in adults. Diabetes Care 2004, 27:2603–2609.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Dunstan DW, Salmon J, Owen N, et al.: Associations of TV viewing and physical activity with the metabolic syndrome in Australian adults. Diabetologia 2005, 48:2254–2261.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Dunstan DW, Salmon J, Healy GN, et al.: Association of television viewing with fasting and 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose levels in adults without diagnosed diabetes. Diabetes Care 2007, 30:516–522.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Healy GN, Dunstan DW, Salmon J, et al.: Television time and continuous metabolic risk in physically active adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2008, 40:639–645.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Healy GN, Dunstan DW, Salmon J, et al.: Objectively measured light-intensity physical activity is independently associated with 2-h plasma glucose. Diabetes Care 2007, 30:1384–1389.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Healy GN, Wijndaele K, Dunstan DW, et al.: Objectively measured sedentary time, physical activity, and metabolic risk: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Diabetes Care 2008, 31:369–371.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Healy GN, Dunstan DW, Salmon J, et al.: Breaks in sedentary time: beneficial associations with metabolic risk. Diabetes Care 2008, 31:661–666.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Hamilton MT, Hamilton DG, Zderic TW: Exercise physiology versus inactivity physiology: an essential concept for understanding lipoprotein lipase regulation. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2004, 32:161–166.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bloom WL, Eidex MF: Inactivity as a major factor in adult obesity. Metabolism 1967, 16:679–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Levine JA, Lanningham-Foster LM, McCrady SK, et al.: Interindividual variation in posture allocation: possible role in human obesity. Science 2005, 307:584–586.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Raynor DA, Phelan S, Hill JO, Wing RR: Television viewing and long-term weight maintenance: results from the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2006, 14:1816–1824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Bergouignan A, Blanc S: The energetics of obesity [in French]. J Soc Biol 2006, 200:29–35.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Cai G, Cole SA, Butte N, et al.: A quantitative trait locus on chromosome 18q for physical activity and dietary intake in Hispanic children. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2006, 14:1596–1604.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Simonen RL, Rankinen T, Perusse L, et al.: Genome-wide linkage scan for physical activity levels in the Quebec Family study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003, 35:1355–1359.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Dietz WH: The role of lifestyle in health: the epidemiology and consequences of inactivity. Proc Nutr Soc 1996, 55:829–840.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Bey L, Akunuri N, Zhao P, et al.: Patterns of global gene expression in rat skeletal muscle during unloading and low-intensity ambulatory activity. Physiol Genomics 2003, 13:157–167.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Bey L, Hamilton MT: Suppression of skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase activity during physical inactivity: a molecular reason to maintain daily low-intensity activity. J Physiol 2003, 551(Pt 2):673–682.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Zderic TW, Hamilton MT: Physical inactivity amplifies the sensitivity of skeletal muscle to the lipid-induced downregulation of lipoprotein lipase activity. J Appl Physiol 2006, 100:249–257.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Hamilton MT, Areiqat E, Hamilton DG, et al.: Plasma triglyceride metabolism in humans and rats during aging and physical inactivity. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2001, 11(Suppl):S97–S104.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Hamilton MT, Etienne J, McClure WC, et al.: Role of local contractile activity and muscle fiber type on LPL regulation during exercise. Am J Physiol 1998, 275(6 Pt 1):E1016–E1022.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Hennig R, Lomo T: Firing patterns of motor units in normal rats. Nature 1985, 314:164–166.

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Bauman A, Armstrong T, Davies J, et al.: Trends in physical activity participation and the impact of integrated campaigns among Australian adults, 1997–99. Aust N Z J Public Health 2003, 27:76–79.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Salmon J, Owen N, Crawford D, et al.: Physical activity and sedentary behavior: a population-based study of barriers, enjoyment, and preference. Health Psychol 2003, 22:178–188.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Sugiyama T, Salmon J, Dunstan DW, et al.: Neighborhood walkability and TV viewing time among Australian adults. Am J Prev Med 2007, 33:444–449.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Epstein LH, Roemmich JN: Reduced sedentary behavior: role in modifying physical activity. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2001, 29:102–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, 1600 East Rollins Street, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Marc T. Hamilton

Authors
  1. Marc T. Hamilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Genevieve N. Healy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David W. Dunstan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Theodore W. Zderic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Neville Owen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc T. Hamilton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hamilton, M.T., Healy, G.N., Dunstan, D.W. et al. Too little exercise and too much sitting: Inactivity physiology and the need for new recommendations on sedentary behavior. Curr Cardio Risk Rep 2, 292 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-008-0054-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-008-0054-8

Keywords

  • Physical Activity
  • Sedentary Behavior
  • Physical Inactivity
  • Sedentary Time
  • Physical Activity Guideline