SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

September 15, 2021 By admin

Did you know that living a sedentary lifestyle, increases your risk of being overweight, developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease, and experiencing depression and anxiety? Being physically active, on the other hand, improves your overall energy levels and endurance, and also help your bones maintain strength.

How does an Inactive lifestyle affect your body?

Weight

Moving your muscles helps your body digest the fats and sugars you eat. If you spend a lot of time sitting, digestion is not as efficient, so you retain those fats and sugars as fat in your body. Research suggests you need 60–75 minutes per day of moderate-intensity activity to combat the dangers of excessive sitting.

Hip and Back

The seated position puts huge stress on your back muscles, hip, neck, and spine. It’s even worse if you slouch. No matter how comfortable you get, your back still won’t like a long sitting session. Get up and move around for a minute or two every half hour to keep your spine in line.

Cancer

The American Cancer Society study show that the dangers of sitting include increasing your chances of developing some types of cancer, including lung, uterine, and colon cancers. The more you sit, the higher the odds.

Prolonged Leisure-Time Spent Sitting in Relation to Cause-specific Mortality in a Large U.S. Cohort. Published June 29, 2018 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. First author Alpa V. Patel, PhD, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Ga.

Heart disease

A study by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, showed that Sitting for long periods has been linked to heart disease. This study also showed that people who are inactive and sit for long periods have a 147 per cent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

University of Leicester. “Sitting for protracted periods increases risk of diabetes, heart disease and death.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 October 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121015090048.htm>.

Diabetes

Meta-analysis (10 studies) suggest that people who spend more time sitting have a 112 per cent higher risk of diabetes. Sedentary time in adults and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Wilmot EG, Edwardson CL, Achana FA, Davies MJ, Gorely T, Gray LJ, Khunti K, Yates T, Biddle SJ Diabetologia. 2012 Nov; 55(11):2895-905

Varicose veins & Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)

Sitting for long periods can cause blood to pool in your legs. It can be serious if the clot breaks free and lodges in your lung. That’s why it’s a good idea to break up long sitting sessions.

Stiff neck and shoulders

If you spend your time hunched over a computer keyboard, this can lead to pain and stiffness in your neck and shoulders.

Legs and bum muscles (gluteals)

Sitting for long periods can lead to weakening and wasting away of the large leg and gluteal muscles. These large muscles are important for walking and for stabilising you. If these muscles are weak you are more likely to injure yourself from falls, and from strains when you do exercise.

 

How can you save your health from the dangers of long sitting?

If you’re not getting enough activity in your day, it’s not too late to turn it around and gain great health benefits in the process.

Some ways you can incorporate activity into your day are:

  • Use the stairs instead of the lift or escalator, or at least walk up the escalator.
  • Get off the bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
  • Park further away from wherever you’re going and walk the rest of the way.
  • Calculate how long it takes you to walk one kilometre – you may find you can reach your destination faster by walking than if you wait for public transport.

Be active at work

You can move around at work more than you think:

  • Take the stairs instead of the lift.
  • Walk over and talk to your colleagues instead of emailing them.
  • Take your lunch break away from your desk and enjoy a short walk outside if you can.
  • Use the speaker phone for conference calls and walk around the room during the calls.
  • Organise walking meetings.

Be active at home

Don’t let bad weather stop you from being active! You can do indoor activities such as squats, sit-ups, skipping rope, dancing, swimming at an indoor pool, yoga, etc.

Here are some simple ideas to keep you moving while you’re at home:

  • When you’re tidying up, put items away in small trips rather than taking it all together.
  • Set the timer on your television to turn off an hour earlier than usual to remind you to get up and move.
  • Walk around when you’re on the phone.
  • Stand up and do some ironing during your favourite television shows.
  • Rather than sitting down to read, listen to recorded books while you walk, clean, or work in the garden.
  • Stand on public transport, or get off one stop early and walk to your destination.

 

References