The lifestyle of modern people is designed to provide an easy and comfortable life in this contemporary world. Whether it is working in an office, studying in classes, or driving a vehicle, most of your activities are done in a sitting posture. Though it uses less energy from your body, extreme sitting habits have detrimental effects on your health.
Researchers have claimed that sitting for a long period during a day increases the chances of developing serious health issues like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and more. However, if you do not live an inactive lifestyle, you would have a better probability of staying fit and healthy.
Negative effects of excessive sitting on your body:
Sitting is a general posture of the body in which people usually spend their day in. More than half of the lifespan of a person majorly goes in a sitting position. An average salaried worker spends more than 12 hours in sitting posture per day, while a farmer spends up to 3 hours per day.
The human body is built to stand upright. When you are physically active, the functions of various organs work effectively, which improves your endurance, bone strength, and energy levels of your body. However, living a sedentary life can have several negative impacts on your body externally or internally. If proper steps are not followed, it can shorten your life expectancy.
Following is the list of various harmful effects of sitting too much:
- Elevates the chances of being overweight:
Sitting or other sedentary activities utilize less energy as compared to walking or standing positions. Due to a lack of non-exercise activities like standing, strolling, or moving, the body burns fewer calories in a seated position, which results in gaining weight. Prolonged sitting hours can increase the chances of obesity in a person who can further link to other chronic health diseases.
- A major cause of serious health diseases:
An inactive lifestyle of a person is a serious cause of developing over 30 chronic health conditions and diseases, which majorly include 147% risk rate of heart disease and a 112% chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Various studies have depicted that sitting for a long period or strolling less than 1500 steps in a day with a minimum reduction of calories can increase the insulin resistance process, which is a driving cause of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, you also get prone to various types of cancer consisting including uterine, lung, and colon cancers.
Sitting habits do not only affect your physical health, but they have serious impacts on your mental health as well. Excessive sitting has higher chances of developing depression and anxiety in people which can seriously affect their lifestyle with negativity.
- Severely affects your body parts:
Persistent sitting for a long time can weaken your gluteal and leg muscles, which are primarily responsible for standing upright and walking. It would lead to extreme strains and falls if they lose energy to stabilize your body in motion. Sitting too much shortens the muscles of the hip flexor, which can result in hip joint problems. Moreover, sitting with poor posture induce poor health of your spine, which can lead to some serious health issues.
Practicing sedentary behaviors also produce stiffness and pain in your shoulders and neck, which can make you feel exhausted for a whole day.
- Result in early death:
Studies have proved that if a person is extremely performing sedentary activities, there is a high chance of his/her early death. Inactive people have a 22% to 49% higher risk of premature death. So, it is important to move around to elevate your lifespan.
Conclusion:
Though a relaxing life is comforting, however, it may come with a price. If you want to live a long and healthy life, it is important to stand for when working or go on for short walks in a day to avoid the above-mentioned health issues.
Hi, I am Valerie. I love working out and trying out various products which help me maintain my fitness. I love reviewing products related to posture and pain relief that will help people in some way. I like to spend my extra time swimming, Running and Wall Climbing. I am a physiotherapist and have helped countless people lead a pain free life.
