According to a new study, sitting for long stretches of times, only serves to shorten the average life span.

The study of over 120,000 American adults found, even after factoring out obesity or the level of daily physical activity people engaged in, the effect remained, making it just one more reason to get up and walk.

It is a well documented fact that exercise has a salutary effect on being overweight or obese, rates of which are at an all-time high.

However, background information in the study published online 22nd July in the American Journal of Epidemiology, no one has really studied the effects of sitting per se. Although, several studies have associated sitting time with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease risk, and unhealthy diets in children.

The study analyzed responses from questionnaires filled out by 123,216 people (53,440 men and 69,776 women), who had no history of disease and were participating in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention II study. The participants were followed for 14 years from 1993 to 2006.

The study found people seemed more likely to die of heart disease than cancer, with women who spent six hours a day sitting having a 37% increased risk of dying, compared to those who sat for less than three hours a day. The increased risk for men was 17%.

Exercising just a little every day appeared to lower the risk of mortality associated with sitting, even though its influence on death risk remained significant even after factoring in activity.

On the other hand, those who sat a lot, were not active and did not exercise, had an even higher risk of mortality at 94% for women and 48% for men.

Dr. Alpa Patel, study lead author and an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, said less total energy was expended sitting, with obvious consequences like weight gain and increased obesity, affecting metabolism and risk factors for various diseases.

However, it is possible there are other biological factors beyond obesity that can explain the link. Such as, ‘inactivity physiology’, when muscles, especially those in the legs when sitting, stimulate or suppress various hormones that then affect triglycerides, cholesterol and other markers for heart and other diseases.