Sitting is the new smoking, many health experts say, as study after study finds our sedentary lifestyles have a serious impact on our health.
New research into women’s health reveals that women who spend more than six hours a day sitting double their risk of uterine fibroids.
The more sedentary time spent, the greater the risk of uterine fibroids, according to the study, which found that sitting for six or more hours a day was associated with double the risk compared to women who sit fewer than two hours daily.
One possible explanation is that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to obesity, a known risk factor for fibroids. Also, there’s a well-known association between sedentary behavior and chronic inflammation and vitamin D deficiency, the study authors suggest, which could also explain the increased risk of fibroids.
Fibroids are harmless growths of muscle and tissue that form in or on the wall of the uterus, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
They’re fairly common — up to 80% of women have fibroids — especially among those between the ages of 30 and 50.
Small fibroids are usually painless, but larger growths can cause pain, swelling, excessive bleeding, constipation and discharge.
Earlier studies found that sedentary lifestyles are associated with endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer, all of which are fueled by the hormone estrogen. So health experts wanted to see if fibroids, which are also fueled by estrogen, might also be linked to sitting.
Researchers from Kunming University in China gathered more than 6,600 women ages 30 to 55 who had not yet gone through menopause for their study. They then collected background information including menstrual and reproductive history, number of children and diet.
The participants in the study, published today in BMJ Open, also detailed how much time they spent playing board games, screen time, reading, knitting and other sedentary activities.
They were then divided into four groups: under two hours per day, two to four hours/day (a group group comprised 61% of the women), four to six hours/day and six or more hours/day spent sitting. Most (61%) of the women were in the two-to-four-hour group.
In total, 562 (8.5%) of the women had fibroids, with rates that were highest among those over the age of 50.
Numerous other studies have linked sitting to health impacts — and one nationwide survey from 2019 found that American adults spend about 9.5 hours sedentary every day.
Researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of Arizona found that people who sit 10 hours or more per day may have a higher risk of developing dementia.
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine additionally found an association between prolonged sitting and the risk of early death from any cause.
A sedentary life has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, anxiety, depression and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT).
But there are simple ways to offset the damage done by sitting, according to experts.
Just five minutes of light walking every half hour has been found to offset the risks that come with sitting, according to a study published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
And research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity has the potential to lower the risk of adverse health effects of being sedentary.
