Standing more linked to higher risk of circulatory issues: Australian study

SYDNEY: Spending more time standing rather than sitting does not improve cardiovascular health and is linked to a higher risk of circulatory issues, Australian researchers have found.

In a study published on Thursday, researchers from the University of Sydney analysed data from research-grade wrist devices that were worn by 83,013 adults in Britain and found that there were no health benefits to standing more compared to sitting.

They found that, over the long term, standing more did not reduce a person's chances of suffering a cardiovascular health incidence -- such as heart failure, coronary heart disease and stroke -- and could increase the risk of circulatory issues related to standing such as varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis.

However, the research found that sitting for over 10 hours a day increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and circulatory disease incidence, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health. We found that standing more does not improve cardiovascular health over the long term and increases the risk of circulatory issues," said Matthew Ahmadi, lead author of the study from the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney.

The researchers recommended that people who were regularly seated or standing for long periods schedule regular movement throughout the day.

Previous research published by Ahmadi and his co-author, Emmanuel Stamatakis, in July, found that six minutes of vigorous exercise or 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per day could help lower the risk of heart disease even in people who were highly sedentary for over 11 hours per day.