15/09/2017
7 Negative Effects Of a Sedentary Lifestyle
What is Sedentary lifestyle?
Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle which has very less or no physical activity at all. A person leading this kind of lifestyle is always either sitting or lying down and feels lethargic to do even the common chores they are supposed to do and are commonly referred to as the “Couch Potatoes”.
Persons with sedentary lifestyle habits tend to be usually obese or overweight. They prefer staying on the couch for more than 5 hours a day or even the whole day and prefer watching the television or mobile phones or play video games or work sitting in one place.
The persons who sit at workplaces for more than 5 hours are also categorized under the sedentary lifestyle people.
There are greater risks of developing chronic diseases and also a risk of premature deaths in a sedentary life style.
How does an inactive lifestyle lead to health problems?
The risk of developing a chronic disease is dependent on the basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the amount of energy needed while resting in a temperate environment when the digestive system is inactive. A low metabolic rate makes a person obese or the body of a person with low BMR tends to store up fat very easily making them obese and their body mass index (BMI) is high in turn leading them into developing heart diseases, strokes, diabetes, cancers and even depression.
A person leading a sedentary lifestyle has a very low BMR, as they do not utilize the energy from the food when at rest compared to, if they move about, hence the energy that comes from the food they ingest gets deposited as fat around the organs of the body making them function less and resulting in chronic diseases.
When this fat gets deposited on the walls of the blood vessels, it leads to increase of pressure of blood flow resulting in High Blood Pressure or Hypertension.
Along with sedentary habits when a person consumes unhealthy foods, such as processed foods, sweets, junk or fried foods, he person is at greater risk of developing chronic diseases or even premature death.
Negative Effects of a Sedentary Lifestyle
People with sedentary habits must have low calorie diet which is not the case in the modern world where everything comes ready-made to our doorsteps in a few minutes.
The effect of sedentary lifestyle is not just physical but also disturbance at the mental physical and social levels as well.
• Being idle isn’t Ideal: As the popular saying goes “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop” it proves to be true when a person is a couch potato. The person’s brain is not occupied and hence resorts to watching TV or surfing the internet. This makes the person depressed and can also give rise to negative thoughts or vice versa.
• Cancer Risk or Risk of Intestinal Ulcers : There is a greater risk of developing ulcers and cancers, especially for those who are glued to the television sets as they tend to keep eating junk food and sip on carbonated drinks which can lead to increase in the production of bile and damage to the lining of the stomach resulting in ulceration and bleeding of the stomach and intestines. Junk food requires more bile to be digested and when the excess bile is not utilised there is a clogging of the bile duct leading to stones and tumors which can turn out to be cancerous.
• Risk of Diabetes: A sedentary lifestyle leads to a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, as the sugars that are released from foods are not utilized and there is increase of blood sugar.
• Risk of degenerative disorders: Greater risk of degenerative disorders especially to the back and spine like Cervical and Lumbar Spondylosis, Osteoarthritis of the Spine or knee joints, as there is less or absolutely no exposure to sunlight. This can lead to deficiency of Vitamin D and Calcium levels in the body making the bones and spine weak and leading to Osteoporosis.
• Lethargy and Sleepiness: will be more in sedentary lifestyle which leads to a risk of developing a dull brain functionality or memory. As there is lesser blood circulation to the brain it leads to decreased formation of neurons and synaptic connection between neurons which leads to loss of cognition in brain centers which deal with learning and memory.
• Juvenile Diabetes: Children with sedentary habits are at the risk of developing juvenile diabetes, osteoporosis, ADHD or autism. They complain of body pains and are lethargic and tend to be very obese at a very young age and are prone to more vitamin deficiencies.
• Underweight Babies with risk of future obesity: Studies have shown that pregnant women, who become obese due to a sedentary lifestyle, run the risk of delivering an underweight babies or premature babies. Less physical activity leads to obesity and obesity during pregnancy poses a risk for various gestational disorders like diabetes and hypertension thus leading to inducing an early delivery through caesarean section.
Health Tips:
To evade the problems arising from a sedentary lifestyle these health tips will help maintain a disease free life:
1. Walking – Brisk walking at least five times a week helps reduce the risk of heart disease
2. Household work- helps not only in keeping the house clean, but also allows your body to metabolize the fat in your body.
3. At work – taking a short five minute break by standing and stretching while at work helps release the blood flow to verious parts of the body, which helps boost metabolism.
4. Physical Activity: Running, swimming, or aerobics are some of the physical activities to help maintain a good heart and proper functioning of other organs
5. Avoid Junk Food and instead consume foods that boost the metabolism. The lesser you move, the lesser amount of calories are required.
6. Drinking warm water instead of cold drinks or sweetened beverages helps burn fats while you are sitting.
Doctors suggest that sedentary lifestyle, stress and smoking are increasingly responsible for marked increase in CVD, especially in young adults.
