The Scary Reason You Might Want To Rethink Your Lazy Lifestyle

Of course, we don't think there is anything wrong with sitting still or chilling out at all. But if sitting makes up the bulk of your day — as it does for those of us with a desk job — or if YOLO involves eating an extra bag of chips or getting a second serving of dessert, you might want to make a change. Scientists have now found a link between sitting for long periods of time and the risk of developing cancer.

Published in JAMA Oncology, the study found that more time sitting around, doing little, exposed older American adults to a higher risk of cancer. But cutting that sedentary time with some kind of physical activity lowered the risk. The study also showed that it didn't matter what the activity was or whether it was light, moderate, or vigorous, which lead researchers to suggest that spending more time carrying out any level of physical activity can reduce your risk of a cancer-related death.

The study's lead author Susan Gilchrist, a professor of clinical cancer prevention at the University of Texas, called her group's research " ... the first study that definitively shows a strong association between not moving and cancer death. Our findings reinforce that it's important to sit less and move more. Our next step is to investigate how objectively measured sedentary behavior impacts site-specific cancer incidence and if gender and race play a role" (via CNN).

This study also backs up earlier findings published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2015, which showed the effects of sedentary behavior."[Studies] found that even after adjusting for physical activity, sitting for long periods was associated with worse health outcomes including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Sedentary behavior can also increase your risk of dying, either from heart disease or other medical problems," preventive cardiology expert Erin Michos tells Johns Hopkins Medicine.