The latest findings of a recent Australian study regarding the simple act of sitting down particularly at work and while watching TV show that it can be bad for your health. The research was led by Dr. David Dunstan, Ph.D., a professor and head of Physical Activity Laboratory in the Division of Metabolism and Obesity at the Baker IDI heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia.

The results of the research have been published in the American Heart Association rapid access journal in January this year. The findings are now getting bigger coverage, and are very important for future studies. Sedentary lifestyles and its damaging health effects aren't new, but this recent study is a new one of its kind.

The alarming results were collected by tracking the lifestyle routines of 8,800 adults and associations between the number of hours spent in front of the television per day and various health consequences were observed. One hour spent sitting down watching television is associated with a 19 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, an 18 percent increased risk of death from all causes and, a total of 9 percent increased risk of cancer-related death.

Comparing people who spent less than 2 hours sitting down watching the TV daily with people who spent more than 4 hours daily, the results showed that a 46 percent increased risk of death from all causes and a total of 80 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death were associated with the latter group.

Associations were made without taking into account independent and common cardiovascular disorder risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diet, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, excessive waist circumference and leisure-time work outs.

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