Healthy Living: Americans’ sedentary lifestyle contributes to poor health
Western society is built around a seated lifestyle. We sit at work, during our leisure time in front of the television and in our cars as we commute from place to place.
In fact, the Center for Disease Control reports that the average American adult spends more than half of his or her waking hours completely sedentary. For children, this statistic is not any more encouraging. Our children are taught to sit for hours at a time in school.
In fact, the CDC has found that the average child enrolled in public schooling spends up to 87% of their six to seven hour school day seated. It is no wonder that our waistlines are burgeoning!
More than one in three American adults are clinically obese, and the trend only seems to be rising. The obesity epidemic is in full swing and will remain so until Americans makes the choice to no longer remain seated.
So, just how bad is a seated lifestyle? Apart from smoking, inactivity is one of the most detrimental habits you could choose to have.
Dr. Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, tracked 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006 and found that men who sat for six or more hours per day had a death rate that was 20% higher than those who sat for three or less hour per day. For American females, the death rate was an astonishing 40% higher!
Inactivity is not only costing Americans years of their lives and additional trips to the Big and Tall Store; the CDC reports that obesity-related medical conditions, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, and even Alzheimer’s Disease, have been costing our nation nearly $150 billion every year and account for one in every six dollars spent.
“The human being is designed to move,” says James Levine, an endocrinologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
“You need to move your body,” he said. “If you stop your body, idle it by sitting, it crumbles on every level.”
As a Public Health and Epidemiology student at Eastern Virginia Medical School, I have become well acquainted with these heavy facts. It is one of the most prolific problems I am asked to study each day.
The good news is that the obesity epidemic is not an invisible plague or spore. Understanding both the cause and the cure is not beyond each of us. Together, we can encourage one another to get to a gym, dance, walk, play and enjoy activities beyond the television.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that adult men and women exercise a minimum of two hours and thirty minutes per week to stay healthy. This could involve a 30 minute walk five days per week after work, or during your lunch break.
Even 10 minutes of activity is better than none and every minute adds up! In addition to this, some light muscle strengthening activities twice per week is also recommended.
Today, New Kent County residents have more hope than ever at reaching their recommended levels of daily activity. Active Life Fitness Center, with 24/ access, allows members to work out on their own schedules.
As a full time student and employee of Active Life, I can say from personal experience that I would not be able to fit in my workouts without the flexibility Active Life offers. So, do yourself a favor and stop by to give the Active Lifestyle a try!
Written by Kaleigh Rae, Active Life Fitness Center.