Living a sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous to your health. The less sitting or lying down you do during the day, the better your chances for living a healthy life.
If you stand or move around during the day, you have a lower risk of early death than if you sit at a desk. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you have a higher chance of being overweight, developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease, and experiencing depression and anxiety.
How does a sedentary lifestyle affect your body?
Humans are built to stand upright. Your heart and cardiovascular system work more effectively that way. Your bowel also functions more efficiently when you are upright. It is common for people who are bedridden in hospitals to experience problems with their bowel function.
When you are physically active, on the other hand, your overall energy levels and endurance improve, and your bones maintain strength.
The perils of working from home or a sedentary lifestyle can be treated by physiotherapy services and the best chiropractors in the city.
Legs and gluteals (bum muscles)
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 stabilizing you. If these muscles are weak, you are more likely to injure yourself from falls, and from strains when you do exercise.
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.
Even if you exercise but spend a large amount of time sitting, you are still risking health problems, such as metabolic syndrome. The latest research suggests you need 60–75 minutes per day of moderate-intensity activity to combat the dangers of excessive sitting.
Hips and Back
Just like your legs and gluteals, your hips and back will not support you as well if you sit for long periods. Sitting causes your hip flexor muscles to shorten, which can lead to problems with your hip joints.
Sitting for long periods can also cause problems with your back, especially if you consistently sit with poor posture or don’t use an ergonomically designed chair or workstation. Poor posture may also cause poor spine health such as compression in the discs in your spine, leading to premature degeneration, which can be very painful.
Anxiety and Depression
We don’t understand the links between sitting and mental health as well as we do the links between sitting and physical health yet, but we do know that the risk of both anxiety and depression is higher in people that sit more.
This might be because people who spend a lot of time sitting are missing the positive effects of physical activity and fitness. If so, getting up and moving may help
Cancer
Emerging studies suggest the dangers of sitting include increasing your chances of developing some types of cancer, including lung, uterine, and colon cancers. The reason behind this is not yet known.
Heart Disease
Sitting for long periods has been linked to heart disease. One study found that men who watch more than 23 hours of television a week have a 64 percent higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than men who only watch 11 hours of television a week. Some experts say that people who are inactive and sit for long periods have a 147 percent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
Diabetes
Studies have shown that even five days lying in bed can lead to increased insulin resistance in your body (this will cause your blood sugars to increase above what is healthy). Research suggests that people who spend more time sitting have a 112 percent higher risk of diabetes.
Varicose Veins
Sitting for long periods can lead to varicose veins or spider veins (a smaller version of varicose veins). This is because sitting causes blood to pool in your legs.
Varicose veins aren’t usually dangerous. In rare cases, they can lead to blood clots, which can cause serious problems (see deep vein thrombosis, below).
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Sitting for too long can cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT), for example on a long plane or car trip. Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that forms in the veins of your leg. DVT is a serious problem because if part of a blood clot in the leg vein breaks off and travels, it can cut off the blood flow to other parts of the body, including your lungs, which can cause a pulmonary embolism. This is a medical emergency that can lead to major complications or even death.
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.
How Sedentary are We?
Physical inactivity contributes to over three million preventable deaths worldwide each year (that’s six percent of all deaths). It is the fourth leading cause of death due to non-communicable diseases.
It’s also the cause of 21–25 percent of breast and colon cancers, 27 percent of diabetes cases, and around 30 percent of ischaemic heart disease. In fact, physical inactivity is the second highest cause of cancer in Australia, behind tobacco smoking.
The Australian Health Survey 2011–12 Results Show:
- 60 per cent of Australian adults do less than the recommended 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day.
- Only one third of Australian children, and one in 10 young people (aged 5–17), do the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
- Fewer than one in three children and young people have no more than two hours of screen time each day.
- Almost 70 per cent of Australian adults can be classed as either sedentary or having low levels of physical activity.
Children And Young People
- The Australian Health Survey found that toddlers and pre-schoolers (aged 2–4 years) spent an average of six hours a day doing some form of physical activity, and one and a half hours having some form of screen time.
- These numbers changed dramatically when the survey looked at children and young people (aged 5–17 years). They spend just one and a half hours a day doing physical activities, and over two hours each day on screen time.
- The time spent on physical activity grew smaller as the young people got older, while the time spent on screen-based activities grew higher.
- If you’re getting active outdoors, remember to protect yourself from the sun by applying sunscreen and wearing sun-protective clothing, including a hat.
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.
- Organise walking meetings.
- Be active indoors
- Don’t let bad weather stop you from being active! You can do bodyweight exercises such as squats, sit-ups, and lunges. You can also try indoor activities.