Sedentary lifestyle is basically a scenario whereby someone spends six or more hours per day sitting or lying down without doing anything productive that involves making any physical exercise.

Doctor Jerry Wasena Angira whose a Chief Orthopaedics Surgeon and pain specialist at St Peter’s Orthopaedics and Surgical Speciality Center, has talked about the Sedentary lifestyle basing the topic on how safe we are by practicing that kind of lifestyle.

According to him, a lot of people have actually em backed on their old ways of just sitting and not being productive, an act he has said was brought about by Covid.

“People no longer push themselves around as much as they did in years past, due to development of current technologies and the changing nature of the world. It’s a tough pill to swallow that our lives today include less movement, less activity, and less standing than they formerly did.

This escalated during and after Covid-19 in 2020, when much of the work transitioned to being done from home.”

He believes that by people being idle and doing nothing, they risk their lives and expose themselves to serious health conditions.

“Recent studies by Thrive my way revealed that physical inactivity claims the lives of over 3.2 million people annually, making it the fourth-biggest risk factor for global mortality at the moment because those who stay inactive and sit for long periods of time have a 147% higher risk of suffering a heart attack and stroke.”

He also believes that the current invention or rather rise of technology has contributed greatly to making people stay glued to their sits or beds using their phones for hours and forget about working and just opt to scroll their devices all day and use streaming apps that keep them entertained, making them less productive.

“The biggest problem with a sedentary lifestyle is that we are the greatest contributors in the consequences that we face later. This is because of the supposed consolation of the comfort it brings, however, we never realize how much we’re participating in hurting ourselves.

Sitting for extended periods of time is the primary cause of hip joints and back pain. Prolonged sitting shortens the hip flexor muscle, which might affect the hip joints. Long periods of sitting can also result in back pain, especially if the person slouches rather than adopting the correct positions that could result in spinal problems.
Spine problems that can be quite painful include disc degeneration, disc compression, and disc dislocation.”

The kind of lifestyle also contributes in making one gain weight because the body digests sugars and fats slowly, extended sitting makes the body sedentary, which slows down the digestive process.

“With this lifestyle, one frequently consumes more calories than they can expend. This is what makes someone overweight, which, once more, leads to the emergence of further problems caused by being overweight.”

Doctor Jerry concluded by advising the public to consider taking care of their health to avoid the unnecessarily shortcomings that may have been prevented earlier.

“It’s crucial to remember that, at the end of the day, you are ultimately responsible for taking care of yourself and reducing extended periods of sitting, whether at work or at home.

It’s crucial to think of original ways to avoid sitting down for too long, such as using phone apps and reminders to let you know when it’s time to stretch or go for a walk. It must be deliberate to do this. Doing walking meetings is one innovative strategy that could be useful.”