Sedentary time
Sedentary time is the time you spend sitting each day – in Germany, over nine hours on average. Every break helps.
Ausführlich erklärt
Sitting for long periods is a risk factor in its own right – even for people who exercise. When you sit for hours at a stretch, you burn hardly any energy, the muscles in your legs and core are practically switched off, blood sugar stays high for longer after meals and your circulation becomes sluggish.
The figures are clear: according to the 2023 DKV Report, a study by a German health insurer, adults in Germany sit for an average of 9.2 hours on working days – office, car, sofa, screen. Children and teenagers reach similar levels with school, homework and media. Since 2020, the WHO has explicitly recommended limiting sedentary time and replacing it with physical activity of any intensity.
The good news comes from a large analysis in the journal The Lancet (Ekelund et al., 2016) of more than a million people: around 60 to 75 minutes of moderate activity a day largely offset the disadvantages of eight hours of sitting. And much less helps too: getting up for two to three minutes every half hour measurably reduces the rise in blood sugar after meals.
Practical ways to break up sitting: fetch water, take phone calls standing up, use the stairs instead of the lift, set up a standing spot at the windowsill for emails, walk for ten minutes after eating, use the end of each episode as a cue to get up. For children: homework with movement breaks, standing while reading aloud, screen time in fixed slots with outdoor play in between.
A sitting alarm (on your phone or watch) is the simplest aid: it beeps every 30 minutes – stand up, stretch, take a few steps. It doesn't cost any training time and works throughout the day.