US study links extended sitting and lack of coffee to higher death rates

By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaReviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLMApr 23 2024

The researchers of a recent study published in BMC Public Health examined the independent and combined effects of daily sedentary times and coffee consumption on cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related and any-cause mortality in the United States.

Study: Association of daily sitting time and coffee consumption with the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality among US adults. Image Credit: ViDI Studio/Shutterstock.com

Background

Sedentary behavior and coffee drinking are associated with chronic illnesses, but their combined links with mortality are poorly understood.

Prolonged sitting raises the risk of all-cause and heart disease-related mortality, particularly in individuals who do not meet the recommended physical activity levels. According to studies, death rates are increasing for all causes, including cancer.

Coffee consumption varies depending on lifestyle and demographics, with age playing a primary role. Its antioxidant qualities can lower chronic disease morbidity and mortality.

However, further study is required to discover the best coffee intake technique and dose. The growing incidence of sedentary behavior and coffee drinking raises concerns about their relationship.

About the study

In the present prospective cohort study, researchers investigated the combination effects of daily sedentary times and coffee consumption on death from all causes and CVDs.

The researchers examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) conducted between 2007 and 2018, including 10,639 participants.

They excluded individuals with missing data on exposure factors, outcome variables, and covariates and those with inconsistent daily energy intake. They gathered mortality data from interviews and physical examinations until 31 December 2019 and assessed self-reported daily sedentary time data.

All participants had offline interviews, physical examinations, and laboratory investigations at testing sites. They collected coffee beverage data from one-day food recall questionnaires and used the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) to assess sedentary time.

The primary study outcomes were cardiovascular disease and all-cause death, established using ICD-10 numbers.

The team used Cox proportional hazard regressions to calculate hazard ratios (HR) values adjusted for sociodemographic variables, lifestyle factors, and medical history covariates. Sociodemographic variables included sex, ethnicity, race, educational attainment, marital status, poverty income ratio, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference].

Lifestyle factors included smoking habits, alcohol intake, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2015 values, and physical activity. Medical history included hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, and medications.

Results

Individuals being sedentary for six hours or more daily showed a higher likelihood of being white, non-Hispanic, and educated beyond high school. They also exhibited a larger waist circumference, abdominal obesity, and a higher BMI.

Coffee users showed higher odds of being non-Hispanic, Caucasian, older, and educated beyond high school. Only 52% of US people drink coffee, and over half report sitting for at least six hours daily. Twenty-three percent of Americans stated they sat for six hours or more daily and did not drink coffee.

Over a 13-year follow-up, 945 fatalities occurred among research participants, with 284 of these being due to CVD.

Sedentary times of >8.0 hours daily were linked to increased death rates from all causes (HR, 1.5) and CVD-related (HR, 1.8) compared to sitting times of <4.0 hours daily, according to multivariate analysis. Individuals in the uppermost quartile for coffee consumption had decreased odds of any-cause deaths (HR, 0.7) and CVD-related fatalities (HR, 0.5) compared to non-coffee users.

Joint analyses revealed that coffee non-drinkers sitting for at least six hours per day had a 1.6-fold higher likelihood of any-cause mortalities than coffee consumers who sat for <6.0 hours daily.

The findings indicate that the relationship between sitting time and increased death risk was exclusive for adult non-consumers of coffee, not among coffee drinkers.

Any-cause death risk was considerably greater in those aged >65 years inactive for >8.0 hours daily (HR, 1.7). Individuals aged >65 years, females, those with truncal obesity, former alcohol consumers, former cigarette smokers, and insufficient physical activity had higher HR values for all-cause death risk as their daily sedentary time increased, and the trend showed statistical significance.

Subgroup analyses stratified by coffee intake showed that the relationship between coffee drinking and all-cause death risk was considerably more robust among black and non-Hispanic individuals consuming coffee (HR 0.6).

Conclusions

The study showed sedentary behavior associated with increased any-cause and heart disease-related mortality. However, any-cause fatalities were lower in the highest percentile of coffee consumption, and the lower risk was strongly associated with any amount of coffee consumed.

The relationship was exclusively to individuals who did not drink coffee. Over a 13-year follow-up, the researchers found a statistically significant link between individuals sitting for more than eight hours per day and an elevated risk of any cause and cardiovascular death.

Prolonged and unbroken sitting tends to decrease glucose metabolism and exacerbate inflammation. Coffee consumption reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, which promotes inflammation.

Prospective cohort studies are needed to analyze the influence of coffee intake on health benefits in sedentary populations, and further research, especially multicenter studies, is required to investigate the effects of individual coffee types on mortality and causal linkages.