sedentary life: advantages and disadvantages
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What are the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle?
Medically reviewed by Suzanne Falck, M.D., FACP — Written by Aaron Kandola on August 29, 2018
Physical dangers
Mental health issues
Solutions
Takeaway
Leading a sedentary lifestyle is becoming a significant public health issue. Sedentary lifestyles appear to be increasingly widespread in many nations despite being linked to a range of chronic health conditions.
Most people living a sedentary lifestyle are unlikely to be meeting the national physical activity guidelines. According to the government’s 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week.
A 2017 paper by the Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) defined sedentary behavior as any activity involving sitting, reclining, or lying down that has a very low energy expenditure. The measurement for energy expenditure is metabolic equivalents (METs), and the authors consider activities that expend 1.5 METs or less of energy to be sedentary.
Research suggests that only 21 percent of adults are meeting the physical activity guidelines, while less than 5 percent perform 30 minutes of physical activity per day.
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The biggest diseases you're at risk for when you spend too much of your life sitting are type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In fact, those leading sedentary lives are at a 112% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and 147% higher risk of developing heart disease