Sedentary lifestyle has become widely adopted especially since the global pandemic hit. Sedentary lifestyle is a kind of lifestyle that involves more inactive activities such as sitting and laying down for long period of time. Meanwhile, adults need to be active for at least 150 minutes per week. By sitting and less active on your everyday life, various risks can be developed which may impact your physical and mental well-being. Lack of physical activity leads to a decrease in metabolism. Hence, it will affect the ability of body to control various functions. Here are several risks of adopting sedentary lifestyle:
Obesity
Obesity refers to a condition of excess weakness in the body caused by excessive calories in the body. Your body needs calories to turn them into energy. Meanwhile, calories are burned and turned into energy through physical activities. Lack of physical activities will result in excessive calories. Aside from being physically inactive, obesity also can be caused by various factors such as genes, overeating, and high consumption of fatty foods.
High cholesterol
Cholesterol is fatty substance that can be found in every cell in the body. It is needed to produce hormones, digestive substances, as well as vitamin D. However, excess cholesterol can lead to plaques forming. Those plaques stick to the walls of the arteries causing atherosclerosis and lead to coronary artery disease. It is when your blood flow is blocked by those plaques. When you are being inactive, your metabolism is decreased, causing cholesterol to get out of control.
High blood pressure
Blood pressure refers to the force of your blood to push against artery walls. It can rise and fall to suit your body condition. Having high blood pressure over time can cause serious health problems such as stroke, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney failure. To keep your blood pressure in check, you need to avoid sedentary lifestyle and being more active instead.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis can be caused by various factors including low bone mass. When this happens, your bones become brittle and break easily. Your bones become thin and weak and may lead to other serious health problems. Keeping yourself active is a must to improve your bone health. Don’t forget to get enough sunlight exposure to get vitamin D needed by your body.
How to avoid sedentary lifestyle
Sedentary lifestyle is highly against because it can cause various health problems instead. Hence, it is best to prevent from adopting sedentary lifestyle by doing activities such as:
- Walk to work, school, or grocery store.
- Stand up every 20 minutes, or opt for standing desk to do your work instead.
- Do some household chores diligently to stay active and help burn more calories.
- Exercise at home if you cannot go to the gym. You can use supplies you have at home such as yoga mat.
- Put your drinks far from your desk so you are forced to get up when feeling thirsty. And put the remote as far away as possible so you are forced to stand up and walk around more.
