Researchers found that elderly women who sit for more than 10 hours a day with low physical activity have cells that are biologically older by eight years compared to more active women.
Dangerous: 10 hours of sitting a day
The study found that the women who did less than 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per day, and who remained sedentary for more than 10 hours per day, had shorter telomeres. These are the tiny caps found on the ends of DNA strands that protect chromosomes from deterioration.
As a cell ages, the telomeres naturally shorten and fray, but lifestyle factors such as obesity, inactivity and smoking may accelerate that process.
"Our study found cells age faster with a sedentary lifestyle. Chronological age doesn't always match biological age," said Aladdin Shadyab, PhD, lead author of the study with the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The study
Nearly 1 500 women, aged 64 to 95, participated in the study. They completed questionnaires and wore an accelerometer on their right hip for seven consecutive days during waking and sleeping hours, to track their movements.
