A sedentary lifestyle is almost as harmful as the lack of moderate physical activity.
After 60 years and older, every additional hour spent sitting doubles risk of disability, regardless of whether a person has moderate physical activity, said researchers.
The study is the first of its kind, which tells about the relationship between a sedentary lifestyle and more than twice the risk of disability. In the course of observations 2286 people older than 60 experts came to the conclusion that if an elderly person spends about 12 hours a day in a sitting position, the risk of disability increases it by 50%. It turned out that a sedentary lifestyle is almost as harmful as the lack of moderate physical activity against the risk of disability.
Only among Americans has a disability 56 million people. This leads to the fact that people have a limited ability to perform the basic activities such as eating, bathing, dressing, getting out of bed and walks across the room. Disability increases the risk of hospitalization and is the leading cost driver in health care in the United States.
Experts believe that it is necessary to give this issue more attention, to develop social programs that will contribute to more active older population and thereby reduce the rate of disability among them.
