To some of us busy parents, “uninterrupted sitting” sounds like a vacation, but this and other sedentary behaviors are shown to increase our (and our children’s) risk of death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer (Ekelund, et al., 2018) and increase incidence of diseases such as type II diabetes (Patterson et. al., 2018). These negative consequences of too much inactivity are conferred in as little as six hours of sitting each day (Patterson et. al., 2008).

Office workers, especially, have been shown to spend over 80% of their time in sitting with few breaks (Parry, 2013). Research comparing the amount of sedentary time between traditional students and homeschooled students or tracking the amount of sedentary time for the homeschooling parent is almost nonexistent, but my experience has been that homeschooling has afforded me about four to five hours each day of active teaching in which I am engaged in light activity and standing. My afternoons usually include periods of sitting and reading.  My older children seem to do as much “uninterrupted sitting” as traditional students, while my younger children have frequent bouts of going to the restroom, getting a drink of water, finding a book, or fetching supplies.  I usually find myself trying to increase their uninterrupted sitting time! 

In reality, the latest research shows that uninterrupted sitting cannot be counteracted even with two hours of high intensity running or other exercise.  Exercise alone does not prevent disease in you or your children.  It must be partnered with movement throughout the day.  On the other hand, an active day alone is not effective either.  We must incorporate periods of vigorous physical activity along with our daily movement to get the best out of our physical bodies.  (Chang et. al., 2025).

The harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle (prolonged periods of uninterrupted sitting), while they cannot be thwarted by a daily bout of exercise alone, can be mitigated by adding short breaks of movement throughout the day, in addition to the recommended moderate to vigorous activity.  For example, even walking around for two and a half minutes every hour during the school day or work day in conjunction with a high intensity physical activity session greatly improved health outcomes according to one study (Chang et. al., 2025).  The amazing thing about this study is that the benefits of movement breaks were measurable and statistically significant after only two weeks!  This is testament to the terrific design of the human body to be resilient and to adapt quickly to positive stimuli.  The World Health Organization also recommends adding in movement breaks.

Good News for Parents: Now that we know how harmful that sitting can be and that we cannot negate the effects of sitting with exercise alone, it is in our power to simply add short movement breaks every hour for ourselves and our children.  My favorite is to add a short outdoor break or activity mid-morning on sunny days that allows my children and I to step outside and collect fresh air and sunshine.  Often, the things that make the biggest difference, like adding small, frequent breaks from sitting, are the easiest and cheapest remedies to common modern ailments and lie well within our grasp.

As always, if you want to discuss more about uninterrupted sitting, share ideas on incorporating movement breaks, or chat about anything else on your mind, contact me!

~Coach Melissa

References:

Chang, C. R., Sabag, A., & Francois, M. E. (2025). Low-intensity activity breaks combined with alternate day interval training mitigate cardiovascular effects of sedentary behavior. Journal of Applied Physiology, 138(3), 799. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00484.2024

Ekelund U., Brown W.J., Steene-Johannessen J., Fagerland M.W., Owen N., Powell K.E., Bauman A.E., Lee I.M. (2019). Do the associations of sedentary behaviour with cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer mortality differ by physical activity level? A systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis of data from 850 060 participants. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(14), 886-894. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098963

Parry, S. & Straker, L. (2013). The contribution of office work to sedentary behaviour associated risk. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 296. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-296

Patterson, R., McNamara, E., Tainio, M., de Sá, T. H., Smith, A. D., Sharp, S. J., Edwards, P., Woodcock, J., Brage, S., & Wijndaele, K. (2018). Sedentary behaviour and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and incident type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and dose response meta-analysis. European Journal of Epidemiology, 33(9), 811–829. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44851947