Physical activity and exercise are undoubtedly extremely necessary for the good health. We have been listening about the good effects of exertion since our existence, but have you ever given a thought to the opposite scenario? What are the harmful effects of sitting for too long and not doing enough physical exercise? Read on to find out.
Sitting for long periods of time has detrimental effects on physical health but they show up slowly, hence are seldom noticeable. The change in social habits is the root cause of people spending time indoors and hence sitting a lot. Due to security conditions and increased safety risks, people just want their kids to stay indoors, and fortunately children of today are more than happy to cherish the luxury of gaming tools such as Xbox, Play Station, Facebook and of course the constantly amazing and brilliantly connective internet! Such idle habits have produced the term ‘couch potatoes’ i.e. the person who spends much of his time while sitting on a couch!
Harmful Effects of Sitting Idle
One of the most significant results of sitting for too long is obesity. Obesity forms the basis of many other health problems as well which could in turn be lethal! Problems like increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, cardiovascular disease and cancer could legitimately arise due to the careless habit of sitting for long periods of time.
Sitting for longer duration has been linked with obesity. This is scientifically proven as decrease in physical activity causes the decline in the performance of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), the primary task of which is to burn the fats.
Sitting too much increases the cholesterol level which in turn thickens the walls of the arteries and hence increases blood pressure. These symptoms could lead to heart problems of significant importance that could turn out to be fatal in the long run. Sitting for too long also causes blood clots to be formed, which can also become cause of various health issues.
The activity of muscles that is triggered as a person starts exertion is directly linked with the breakdown of fats and sugar contents in the body. The faster this process is, the better it is in most cases.
Hence it could be concluded that although sitting for long periods of time seems perfectly okay, it could have harmful long term effects.
These were negative effects of sitting for very long period. You will also like to learn about the harmful effects of over sleeping.
