More than half of why people sit or recline different amounts every day comes down to their genes, not just their habits or surroundings.

People's genes seem to play a smaller role in how they report their sitting time compared to their actual sitting habits — meaning how much you say you sit isn't as influenced by DNA as how much you actually sit.

How much you say you sit and how much you actually sit are somewhat linked — about 1 in 3 people who report sitting a lot really do. And nearly half of that link comes from shared genes, meaning your DNA plays a role in both what you do and what you say about it.

Just because someone sits a lot doesn’t mean they’re genetically wired to be less active — sitting and moving aren’t exact opposites in our DNA, even though they’re somewhat linked in behavior.