Sitting often goes unnoticed as a health risk. But staying seated for long hours, whether during work, travel, or rest, can quietly harm the body in serious ways.
Health Problems Linked to Long Sitting Hours
According to Edward R. Laskowski, M.D., from Mayo Clinic, sitting for too long can cause serious health issues like obesity, heart disease, cancer, and even early death.
These risks are not limited to people who don’t exercise at all. Even people who regularly exercise but sit for long periods can be affected.
Staying still for too long slows down how the body uses energy, processes fats, and manages blood sugar.
Data shared by Better Health Channel shows that sitting for more than eight hours a day, unmoving, can be just as harmful as smoking or being obese.
How Does It Affect the Body?
Sitting for too long can trigger a variety of problems:
- Muscles Weakening: Spending too much time sitting can lead to weak muscles, especially in the legs and buttocks.
- Gaining Weight: Sitting for too long means the body isn’t burning fat the way it is supposed to, which can lead to weight gain over time. According to Dr Wajahat Mehal, who heads the Yale Medicine Metabolic Health & Weight Loss Program, sitting too much can easily lead to weight gain, and it’s strongly tied to diabetes.
- Backaches and hip pain: Sitting for too long can cause poor posture and stiffness in the body.
- Heart and diabetes risk: Sitting too much can also raise the risk of heart problems and make it harder for the body to manage sugar.
- Cancer: Being glued to a work desk all day, or just not moving much in general, can raise the risk of cancer, similar to smoking and eating red meat.
- Blood clots: Staying still for too long may lead to dangerous blood clots.
How to Break the Sitting Habit
It does not take a major lifestyle change to break the habit. Simple changes in daily habits and staying active can help. For example:
- Short walks,
- Moving or standing up from time to time
- By taking the stairs instead of elevators, or,
- Doing light stretches or dancing can reduce the effects of sitting too long.
Staying active does not mean hitting the gym. Easy, regular movement can support muscle strength, focus, and reduce long-term health risks.
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