The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a number of new behaviours into daily routines, like physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing. However, one old behaviour that has persisted, and has arguably been amplified due to COVID–19, is sitting
Health vs. well-being
Chronic sedentary time has been linked to greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, mortality, and even some cancers
- However, for many people, their own judgments and feelings about their quality of life may be more important and relevant for informing their health decisions and behaviors than potentially developing chronic diseases
- How an individual feels about their own health may not always align with what their body may demonstrate
- Therefore, evaluating subjective well being is vital for painting a holistic picture of health
Less sitting is good for everyone
Overall sitting and self-perceived levels of sedentary behavior
- Most studies found a weak statistically significant association between higher overall sedentary time and lower subjective well-being
- However, in studies where participants were asked to compare their sedentary behaviour to how much they normally sit, those who perceived themselves as more sedentary than usual reported significantly poorer subjective well being
- These findings suggest that how much an individual sits overall may not be as important as how much the individual sits compared to their usual level of sitting
Different Contexts of Sitting
Sedentary behavior, physical inactivity and screen time demonstrated weak but statistically significant correlations with subjective well-being.
- Those who reported sitting more often and spending longer periods with no physical activity reported lower positive affect, higher negative affect and lower life satisfaction than those who sat less and moved more.
- The relationship was most apparent in studies that compared people who were very sedentary to those who had more active lifestyles.
Not all sitting is bad sitting
Different domains of sedentary behavior have unique relationships with subjective well-being.
- So, when people work towards reducing their sitting time, they should consider not just how much to reduce, but what kind to reduce (i.e., how much sedentary time).
