What Is a Sedentary Lifestyle? Risks and How to Sit Less

A sedentary lifestyle means spending much of your waking day sitting or lying down while using very little energy, usually combined with little regular physical activity. Researchers define sedentary behaviour as any waking activity done sitting, reclining or lying down at a very low energy cost, such as desk work, driving or watching TV. A lot of sedentary time is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and early death, and the most effective fix is a mix of regular activity and fewer long stretches of sitting.

Sedentary vs. physically inactive: what is the difference?

These two terms are often used as if they mean the same thing, but they describe different things:

• Sedentary behaviour is about how much time you spend sitting or lying down while awake. The Sedentary Behavior Research Network defines it as waking behaviour at 1.5 METs or less (roughly the energy you use at rest) in a sitting, reclining or lying posture.
• Physical inactivity means not meeting the physical activity guidelines - for adults, at least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.

You can be both at once, or just one. Someone who runs every morning but sits for ten hours afterwards is active but highly sedentary. Someone on their feet all day in a shop may sit little but still not do much moderate activity. Both sides matter for health.

How common is it?

WHO estimates that about 31% of the world's adults - around 1.8 billion people - did not meet the recommended activity levels in 2022. The NHS notes that many UK adults sit for more than 7 hours a day, and people over 65 often spend 10 hours or more a day sitting or lying down.

What are the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle?

According to WHO, people who are not active enough have a 20% to 30% higher risk of death than people who are sufficiently active. The NHS lists long periods of sitting or lying down as linked to a higher risk of:

• Heart disease and stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• Weight gain and obesity

Being inactive is also linked to some cancers, poorer mental health, and loss of muscle strength and balance with age, which makes everyday tasks harder over time. Most of this evidence comes from long-term observational studies, which show strong links but cannot always separate the effect of sitting from other habits that go with it.

Can exercise cancel out sitting all day?

Partly, and it depends on how much. A large analysis combining data from more than a million adults (Ekelund et al., Lancet, 2016) compared people by both sitting time and activity level. The group that sat more than 8 hours a day and was the least active had a 59% higher death rate during follow-up than people who sat less than 4 hours and were the most active. But people who sat more than 8 hours and were in the most active group, doing roughly 60 to 75 minutes a day of moderate activity, had no clear increase in risk. High TV-viewing time was harder to offset.

Most people do not do 60 to 75 minutes of activity a day, which is why the NHS and WHO advise both: meet the activity guidelines and cut down on long sitting time. How you sit matters too - research on spreading movement through the day links long, unbroken sitting bouts to higher risk, and short walking breaks to better blood sugar after meals.

How much sitting is too much?

There is no agreed number. The 2020 WHO guidelines say adults should limit sedentary time and replace it with activity of any intensity, but that the evidence is not yet strong enough to set a specific daily limit. A practical rule: the less time you spend in long, unbroken stretches of sitting, the better, and the more you sit for work, the more your activity outside work matters.

Practical ways to sit less

At work

• Stand up and move for a couple of minutes every 30 minutes or so.
• Take phone calls standing or walking.
• Walk to a colleague instead of messaging, and use stairs where you can.
• Eat lunch away from your desk and add a short walk.
• If you have a sit-stand desk, alternate rather than standing for hours, which brings its own aches.

At home

• Get up during ad breaks or between episodes.
• Do chores, stretching or light exercise while watching TV.
• Take a 10 to 15 minute walk after the evening meal.
• Swap some screen time for active hobbies like gardening or dancing.

Getting around

• Walk or cycle short journeys instead of driving.
• Get off public transport a stop early, or park further away.
• On long drives or flights, stop or get up and walk regularly.

Building up activity

If you are starting from very little, begin with 10-minute walks and build up over several weeks. WHO is clear that some activity is better than none, and the biggest gains come from moving from very little to a moderate amount. Our guide to why exercise matters covers the full guidelines.

Seeing your own patterns with FitRest

FitRest reads your activity from Apple Health and shows your steps hour by hour and your typical day, so long low-movement stretches are easy to spot. Activity rings and Activity Trend show whether your weekly activity is rising, and the daily Exertion score gives you a quick read on how demanding each day was. See the activity and workout features.

When to talk to a doctor

If you have been mostly inactive and have a heart or lung condition, diabetes, joint problems, or have been told to limit exercise, speak to a doctor before starting something more strenuous than walking. Seek medical help straight away for chest pain, fainting, or a painful, swollen leg after a long period of sitting. If low energy, pain or low mood is what keeps you from moving, that is worth raising with a doctor too.

Sources

• Tremblay MS et al. - Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) - Terminology Consensus Project process and outcome (International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2017)
• World Health Organization - WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2020)
• World Health Organization - Physical activity fact sheet
• Ekelund U et al. - Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? (Lancet, 2016)
• NHS - Benefits of exercise