PESHAWAR: Did you know that living a sedentary lifestyle can lead to high blood pressure and increase your risk of dying from heart disease and cancer?
In fact, sedentary lifestyle , such as long time sitting on desk, driving or in front of a screen can be “extremely” dangerous. According to health experts, “We use less energy sitting for long periods of time as compared to keeping our body active.” Researchers have linked long-term sitting to a number of health concerns. Sitting risks include obesity, high blood pressure, an increase in waist fat and abnormal cholesterol. Research shows that people who sit for more than eight hours a day without physical activity and the people with obesity or smoking face similar health risks.
How does prolonged sitting affect our body?
Sitting for long period of time affects the efficiency of our heart and cardiovascular system. When we stand up straight or stretch our body, our gut function more efficiently. Most the people are admitted to hospitals only because of intestinal problems. Similarly, sitting for long periods of time or being inactive for hours can lead to a number of diseases.
Leg and hip muscles
One of the major sitting risks of prolonged sitting weakens our legs and hips muscles. These muscles are very important for walking and keeping our body stabile. In case of any weakness in these muscles, there are more chances of getting injured during exercise and other physical activities.
Metabolism problem
Moving the muscles helps our body digest the fats and sugars we consume while hours long sitting negatively affect our digestive system, so the body retains this fat and sugar.New medical research shows that long hours sitting also lead to many types of cancer – including lung and colon cancer.
How to stay active and healthy at work?
Sitting for too long is as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. When we are active, our level and endurance improve and bones retain strength. During work, we should start looking for ways to stand and stretch our boy whenever we get the chance. Health experts advise that we should take a break from sitting after every 30 minutes. If we have desk work, we should try to work at a standing desk or set up a high desk or counter.