Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is highly prevalent and can lead to disability and premature mortality. Sedentary behaviour, defined as a low energy expenditure while sitting or lying down, has been identified as an independent risk factor for CVD. This article discusses (1) the association of total sedentary time and patterns of accumulating sedentary time with CVD risk markers, CVD incidence and mortality; (2) acute experimental evidence regarding the acute effects of reducing and breaking up sedentary time on CVD risk markers; and (3) the effectiveness of longer-term sedentary behaviour interventions on CVD risk. Findings suggest that under rigorously controlled laboratory and free-living conditions, breaking up sedentary time improves cardiovascular risk markers in individuals who are healthy, overweight or obese, or have impaired cardiovascular health. Breaking up sedentary time with walking may have the most widespread benefits, whereas standing breaks may be less effective, especially in healthy individuals. There is also growing evidence that sedentary behaviour interventions may benefit cardiovascular risk in the longer term (i.e., weeks to months). Reducing and breaking up sedentary time may, therefore, be considered a target for preventing and managing CVD. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of sedentary behaviour interventions over the long-term to appropriately inform guidelines for the management of CVD.
Keywords: cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular risk markers; prolonged sitting; sedentary behaviour.