--- description: Sitting down can cause heart disease, diabetes and an overall higher risk of death, research from the American Heart Association suggests title: Here's a New Warning That Sitting Too Much Can Be Deadly image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Research](/tag/research/) ## Research Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's a New Warning That Sitting Too Much Can Be Deadly by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2016 6:12 PM CUT by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2016 6:12 PM CUT [Sitting for long stretches of time](http://time.com/8773/now-theres-another-reason-sitting-will-kill-you/ "undefined") is linked to heart disease, an increased risk of diabetes and a higher risk of death from any cause, researchers warn. In a [new science advisory](http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2016/08/12/CIR.0000000000000440 "undefined") from the American Heart Association, researchers summarized existing evidence to conclude that [sitting](http://time.com/4299716/fat-sit-stand-work/ "undefined") can be problematic for health, advising: “Sit less, move more.” Studies show that less time spent sitting correlates to better psychological well-being and better health-related quality of life, while more sitting time is “positively associated with depressive symptoms,” the advisory found. Sitting has a negative impact on the heart no matter how much physical activity a person gets otherwise, the researchers found. Still, more research is needed to determine just how much sitting time is safe, the researchers said. The latest advisory comes after [researchers at the University of Exeter and University College London](http://time.com/money/4073955/standing-sitting-mortality-risk/ "undefined") concluded that sitting time was _not_ associated with increased mortality risk after tracking the work, TV-watching and other sitting habits of over 5,000 people for more than a decade and a half. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4454112/sitting-down-heart-disease-diabetes-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4454112/sitting-down-heart-disease-diabetes-death/"},"headline":"Here's a New Warning That Sitting Too Much Can Be Deadly","datePublished":"2016-08-16T18:12:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:01:56.931Z","description":"But a lack of evidence means that we still don't know exactly how long we can safety sit for","url":"https://time.com/4454112/sitting-down-heart-disease-diabetes-death/","keywords":["Research"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4454112/sitting-down-heart-disease-diabetes-death/","name":"Here's a New Warning That Sitting Too Much Can Be Deadly"}}]}] ```