Yesterday I highlighted the main 4 factors (contributors) for why you are fat.

Yesterday I highlighted the main 4 factors (contributors) for why you are fat.

Four contributors:

Sedentary lifestyle, muscle mass, eating habits, resistance training. 

Let’s delve into each factor that contributes to the obesity pandemic. 

Today’s factor:

Sedentary lifestyle…

For reference, National Library of Medicine (NIH.gov) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7955618/#:~:text=Prolonged%20(excessive)%20sitting%20is%20detrimentally,cognitive%20aspects%20of%20work%20performance.

#1 Sedentary Lifestyle

Prolonged (excessive) sitting is detrimentally associated with cardiovascular, metabolic and mental health. Moreover, prolonged sitting has been associated with poor executive function, memory, attention and visuospatial skills, which are important cognitive aspects of work performance.

Breaking up prolonged sitting with standing or light-intensity exercises at the workplace is recognized as a potential measure in improving cognition.

Conclusion

We postulate that improving cognitive function by breaking up prolonged sitting periods is biologically plausible with the myriad of (suggested) physiological mechanisms. Future experimental studies to ascertain the aforementioned hypothetical mechanisms and clinical trials to break sedentary behavior and improve cognitive functions in sedentary office workers are warranted.

Prolonged daily sitting time is adversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and type 2 diabetes incidence [7]. The incidence of cancer and mortality due to excessive sitting time has also recently been established [7]. Amongst other ill effects of excessive sitting, accumulating sitting time in prolonged, uninterrupted bouts can be particularly harmful owing to an increase in cardiometabolic risk biomarkers, type 2 diabetes risk and all-cause mortality [811]. Therefore, reducing and breaking up prolonged sitting time is speculated to be a solution to reverse the ill effects associated with the occupational sedentary behavior.

Excessive sitting and altered cognitive function

In modern computerized workplace settings, work productivity depends on the following cognitive components: skill acquisition, learning, attention, working memory, executive functions and decision-making [28]. There is some preliminary, though inconsistent, evidence on direct and indirect physiological mechanisms linking prolonged sitting with adverse cognitive outcomes [12, 13, 29]. Some of the proposed mechanisms include insufficient cerebral glucose utilization due to altered postprandial hyperglycemia [21], altered cortical hypoxemia due to compromised ventilatory volumes and peripheral vascular dysfunctions [12], poor arousal because of insufficient supply of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) [30] and interacting hormones such as cortisol and dihydroxyphenyl alanine (DOPA) [13, 29]. Further, poor brain metabolism might increase reactive oxygen species and interleukins that could increase fatigue and reduce synaptic plasticity and memory [31]. The physiological mechanisms underpinning excessive sitting on cognitive functions are explained below.

How prolonged sitting could influence brain glucose metabolism?

Glucose is the primary fuel source for brain metabolism and function. Brain blood glucose transport and neural activity are significantly reduced after exposure to postprandial hyperglycemia [32]. Further, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance can be anticipated as causes for poor cognitive skills. Hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in individuals without clinically apparent diabetes, is found to be associated with reduced cognitive measures, with an atrophy of the hippocampus [33]. Contemporary evidence claims that prolonged uninterrupted sitting elevates postprandial hyperglycemia, proportional hyperinsulinemia and subsequent insulin resistance [34]. Nevertheless, the above metabolic derangements negatively affect brain glucose metabolism that would result in reduced cognitive performance (memory impairment) and cognitive decline [21] as depicted in Fig. 2.

Effects of breaking sitting on cognitive performance

Breaking up prolonged sitting with standing or low-to-moderate intensity exercise breaks is an effective intervention to induce changes within the physiological systems [5759]. The proposed physiological mechanisms are interrelated, that might influence cognitive functions. We propose that there are direct and indirect effects of breaking up prolonged sitting on cognitive functions.

Summary of the hypothesis

Prolonged (excessive) sitting at workplaces leads to vascular and cardiometabolic changes that predispose to both peripheral and central vascular inflammation and poor cortical perfusion might lead to poor cognitive function. With a myriad of ill effects associated with excessive sitting, breaking or reducing sitting needs to be visualized as a necessary measure to mitigate cardiovascular/metabolic risks and poor cognitive function.

Executive functions are crucial for improving work productivity. Hence, breaking up prolonged sitting can indirectly influence work productivity in sedentary office workers by various physiological mechanisms (Fig. 4.) for which the evidence is still emerging.

Occupational interventions, amongst others, such as using height-adjustable desks, participating in standing/walking meetings, environmental restructuring (e.g. stairwells), restricting elevators usage, active commuting to work and physical activity counseling are some attempts to reduce occupation-related sedentary behavior [8689]. Contemporary evidence claims workplace digital interventions such as e-health may influence cardiometabolic disease risk especially mean arterial pressure (MAP) [90, 91]. A 12-month e-health intervention was found to reduce MAP (3.6–4.0 mmHg) significantly compared to baseline. A plethora of evidence exists to emphasize the effects of unimodal or multimodal behavioral interventions to improve sedentary behavior and minimize excessive sitting bouts during working hours [87, 89]. Despite such growing evidence on positive effects of reducing prolonged sitting on health outcomes, sitting behavior seems to be increasingly prevalent globally [92]. Advocating 1 h of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at gyms for office workers (sitting more than 6 h/day) seems less feasible. Rather frequent light intensity activities during typical work hours could be advocated for mitigating the detrimental effects associated with prolonged sitting.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7955618/#:~:text=Prolonged%20(excessive)%20sitting%20is%20detrimentally,cognitive%20aspects%20of%20work%20performance.

Application:

Provided with this information, it is clear that employers and employees alike would benefit from incorporating regular movement intervals to disrupt prolonged periods of sitting. There are a myriad of benefits to be experienced by disrupting prolonged periods of sitting. The worker benefits from less negative health impacts: both bodily and mentally. The employer benefits from greater work production, lower health costs, better employee morale, less sick days, and a when potential employees see an employer that provides resources and promotion of wellness–they see an employer that cares about their employees. 

What is good regular movement?

-10 minutes of walking every 90-120 minutes of sitting.

Indoor alternatives to walking (but really, try just putting a coat on and braving the weather, air is good for you and so is natural light!):

-10 + bodyweight squats

-two to five minutes of seated calf raises

-calf raises on stairs 2-3 rounds of 10-20 reps, 90-120 second rests between sets.

-Plank max

In Conclusion:

Sedentary lifestyles/prolonged sitting are major contributors to obesity. Being mindful of how much time we spend seated and utilizing walking to offset the damages of prolonged sitting is our best defense against these dangers. 

SEE: our recent article and Awareness Campaign on the benefits of walking!

Posted on: September 11, 2024Ryan

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