Sitting, a health hazard !
Sitting long is as hazardous as smoking. When we sit long, we use less energy and body’s metabolism slows down. This in turn give rise to a host of health concerns.
Right from evolution, the human race was never meant for a sedentary lifestyle. Humans had to work hard, struggle a lot to survive on earth. But things dramatically changed with science and technology. With each passing days, as our comfort level rises, the human behaviour and habits changed. It was more of mental work and less of physical activity. But our body’s physiology remained the same. We, humans were never meant to sit or lie down long. We were meant to stay upright. Staying upright actually helps our body’s metabolism and digestion to function appropriately. Body’s energy store is well utilised and bone strength is maintained.
Talking about health hazards, sitting long slower the metabolism and as a result body’s over all energy utilisation is reduced. The muscles of the legs, back, abdomen loosen and relaxed. With such posture for a long time can lead to chronic body, back, leg pain. Since, the metabolism decreases, there is chances of high blood sugar, high cholesterol, increase fat store in the body. The chances of obesity, fatty liver, diabetes are all on rise. There is high risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer contributed to mortality rate. Recent studies have found that sitting prolong for than eight hours can have the same risk of dying similar to the risk of dying from smoking and obesity.
Different researches are going on throughout the world on various recommendations of how long sitting hours and how many hours of physical activity required for different age group of people. So the exact hours and time is quite difficult to recommend. But the simple rule I follow, is trying to build a habit, an awareness, a reminder to move around, have a bit of physical activity in between interval of at least 30 mins of sitting continuously. Apart from that, there is my routine daily physical activity or exercises of at least 60 mins. Different people have different level of endurance and bodily requirements. So it is wise to choose your own convenient routine of physical activity and bodily movements. My intention of writing this post was to make you aware about the dangers of sitting long. If you feel that you are not doing enough of physical activity, it’s never too late to turn around and increase your movements. So in the process, you will enjoy the great health benefits from this simple change of habit.