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Americans are becoming more and more sedentary, spending close to a third of their waking hours, and computer use is partly to blame, reveals a new study.
For nearly 10 years, the average length of the daily session has increased by about an hour, rising to about eight hours for American teenagers and almost six and a half hours for adults, according to researchers. This includes school and work hours, but the use of computers for leisure at all ages has also increased.
In 2016, at least half of American children and adults spent an hour or more of free time per day using a computer. The largest increase is among older adults: 15% of adults of retirement age reported using computers often in 2003-2004, reaching more than half in 2015-2016.
Most Americans of all ages have watched television or videos for at least two hours a day. This has hardly changed during the study: about 60% of children aged 5 to 11 and up to 84% of older people.
"All we found is worrying," said lead author Yin Cao, a researcher at the University of Washington's School of Medicine in St. Louis. "The general message is that prolonged sitting is widespread," despite well-known health warnings about the dangers of being too sedentary.
Researchers analyzed US government health surveys of nearly 52,000 five-year-old Americans from 2001-2016. The total duration of sessions was evaluated for adolescents and adults starting in 2007. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Studies have shown that prolonged sitting periods can increase the risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. The US guidelines on activities published last fall indicate that adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous activities per week, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling or tennis. Muscle strengthening two days a week is also advisable. Immediate benefits include reduced blood pressure and anxiety, and better sleep. The long-term benefits include improving brain health and reducing the risk of falls.
Children ages 6 to 17 need 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. Regular activity is even recommended for 3 year olds, but only about 1 in 4 American adults and 1 in 5 teenagers receive the recommended amounts.
Daisy Lawing, a college student, spends a lot of time sitting, but she does not have much choice. Classes and homework on the computer take up a good part of the day.
"I still feel bad" to be inactive, she said Tuesday at a café in Asheville, North Carolina, explaining that she had written a school newspaper about the benefits of physical activity.
"I try a lot to walk, try to train twice a week. But sometimes I can not, because I'm too busy with school, "says Lawing, 21, a junior at Boone Appalachian University.
Peter T. Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said that people sitting all day had to do more than the minimum amount of physical activity recommended to counteract the risks of being sedentary.
"We really have to work on the people to get the message across. Physical activity is good for everyone, "he said.
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Follow AP medical writer Lindsey Tanner on @LindseyTanner.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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