Sedentary behaviour and metabolic risk

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It is well known that being physically active is important for maintaining good health. However, new evidence has emerged showing that being sedentary (sitting for prolonged periods) is associated with indicators of poor health, such as elevated blood glucose and blood fats. Importantly, it appears that the effects of sedentary behaviour are independent of a person’s physical activity level. This suggests that each should be looked upon as being separate behaviours, meaning that a person could engage in appropriate physical activity (30 minutes of daily activity), yet spend many hours for the rest of the day being sedentary, such as at an office desk. More recently, data from observational research (AusDiab) indicates people who break up their sitting time throughout the day with light-intensity activity (such as light walking) may have better blood glucose and blood fat levels than people who sit for prolonged periods without activity breaks. The implications of these findings are that lifestyle strategies to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease may need to also focus on reducing sedentary time through regular activity breaks, in addition to the promotion of regular physical activity. However, before such intervention strategies can be developed and tested, we need to understand the short-term effects of being sedentary (sitting) on blood glucose and blood fats within a well-designed experimental trial. Therefore, this study aims to examine the short-term effects of prolonged sitting with and without intermittent activity bouts. The study will provide information that will assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of strategies that target reducing sedentary behaviour in older, overweight adults.