Int J Clin Pract. 2017;71:e12925. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijcp | 1 of 6 hps://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12925 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 | INTRODUCTION It has been suggested that the lifestyles of about 40%-80% of the populaon are considered predominantly sedentary. 1 Several facts lend support to these claims. In 1950, approximately 30% of people in the United States were engaged in work requiring a high level of acv- ity, including 12.2% who were in agricultural employment. Only 23.3% of the labour force were engaged in work requiring a low level of ac- vity. In 2000, however, only 22% of the labour force including <2% in agricultural employment, were involved in work requiring high levels of physical acvity, while more than 40% were involved in work re- quiring low levels of physical acvity. 2 Moreover, the number of daily vehicle miles per capita in 1950 was 7 miles/d, whereas it was more than 25 miles/d in 2000. In 1950, the number of houses equipped with at least one television was 10%, whereas it was 98% in 2000. The me spent on watching TV has increased linearly at a rate of approximately 36 minutes/10 years. Together, these trends towards increased sed- entary me and behaviour highlight our need to understand the impact on public health. In their study of US Naonal Health and Nutrion Examinaon Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 data, Mahews et al. ob- served that teenagers and adults spent 7.7 hours/d engaged in sed- entary behaviour 3 and elderly people spent 60% of waking me being sedentary. Owen et al. analysed the data from NHANES 2003-2004 and NHANES 2005-2006 4 , and found that individuals in the fourth quarle spent about 10.2 hours/d engaged in sedentary behaviour compared with those in the first quarle (6.3 hours/d). The absence of regular planned exercise is not synonymous with sedentary me as even those who are not engaged in formal physical acvity may Received: 24 May 2016 | Accepted: 28 November 2016 DOI: 10.1111/ijcp.12925 REVIEW ARTICLE Is sedentary behaviour unhealthy and if so, does reducing it improve this? Shao-Hua Chin | Chanaka Kahathuduwa | Marn Binks Department of Nutrional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA Correspondence Marn Binks, Department of Nutrional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. Email: m.binks@u.edu Summary Purpose: To provide a qualitave synthesis of the available literature on the role of sedentary behavior in health. Aims: We sought to determine if (i) being sedentary ‘causes’ health problems and (ii) intervenons to reduce sedentary behavior improve health status. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were ulized. Manuscripts published from 2001 to 2015 using specific keyword combinaons (eg sedentary behavior, physical acvity, sing, intervenon) were included and qualitavely reviewed. Results: Data is suggesve of an associaon of sedentary behavior and negave health indicators. The associaon between sedentary behavior and mortality is stronger. There is some limited evidence suggesng short-term health benefit to reducing sed- entary behavior. Discussion: Evidence linking sedentary behavior to negave health outcomes is in- complete and oſten largely associaonal in nature thus not allowing for causal infer- ence. In addion, intervenonal literature frequently fails to measure health outcomes, relying instead on the erroneous endpoint of changing sedentary behavior alone. Conclusion: Taken as a whole the literature is suggesve that there may be value in reducing sedentary behavior to have modest impact on health. However, the magni- tude of the benefit appears minor and must be considered before making largescale and potenally costly clinical and public health recommendaons.