[This is a guest blog by Laurel Zimmermann. Laurel is an Exercise Science major with minors in both Business and Biology at The College at Brockport. She is currently an Athletic Development Intern at Athletic Lab. ]

sitting-badI have always considered smoking to be one of the most damaging things you can do to your body. Why you would partake in an activity that will most likely result in illness and possibly death is beyond me. Every time I turn on the TV, I see a new commercial advertising an anti-smoking gum or the CDC s Tips From Former Smokers portraying individuals with throat cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many more. The youth are being taught that smoking isn’t cool anymore; it’s dangerous and flat out stupid. What about living a sedentary lifestyle? Do you see commercials advertising the health risks that come from sitting at a desk all day?

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines a sedentary lifestyle as “Not participating in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on at least three days/week for at least three months” (American College of Sports Medicine, 2013). Some examples of sedentary behaviors are sitting, watching TV, driving or lying down. How much time in the past week have you spent participating in these activities? Research suggests, “sedentary behavior has a direct influence on metabolism, bone mineral content, and vascular health” (Tremblay, et al., 2010). One study decided to test participants using an activity monitor. They found that “children and adults in the United States spent 54.9 percent of their waking time, or 7.7 hours/day, in sedentary behaviors” (Matthews, et al., 2008). With increased technology, this problem is only getting worse. Think about it. Kids spend on average seven hours at school. They then come home and have about three hours of homework. Combine this with watching TV for a few hours. They definitely aren’t meeting the requirements.

This leads us to ask, is living a sedentary lifestyle more dangerous than smoking Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative, believes that sitting is the new smoking.” People often think that living a sedentary lifestyle is ok as long as they still workout occasionally or eat balanced nutritious meals. This is very false, Being sedentary for nine hours a day at the office is bad for your health whether you go home and watch television afterward or hit the gym. It is bad whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin? (Vlahos, 2011). Don’t get me wrong, smoking is bad, it has terrible health risks involved and should be avoided at all costs. What’s truly scary is the amount of people living a sedentary lifestyle that don’t even realize the risks they may be facing. If you have an office job, try a standing desk or look into the treadmill desk invented by Dr. Levine. Take breaks, go for a walk, and make sure you are elevating your heart rate more than once a day. We need to do whatever we possibly can to stay active throughout the day to avoid the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

References

  • American College of Sports Medicine. (2013). ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
  • Matthews, C. E., Chen, K. Y., Freedson, P. S., Buchowski, M. S., Beech, B. M., Pate, R. R., & Troiano, R. P. (2008). Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors in the United States, 2003 2004. American journal of epidemiology, 167(7), 875-881.
  • Tremblay, M. S., Colley, R. C., Saunders, T. J., Healy, G. N., & Owen, N. (2010). Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35(6), 725-740.
  • Vlahos, J. (2011). Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?. New York Times, 14.