The term "sedentary lifestyle" or "sedentary behavior" describes a lifestyle characterized by prolonged periods of sitting or lying down with minimal physical activity.

The Impact of a Sedentary Lifestyle on the Body

A sedentary lifestyle or lack of movement can have negative effects on the body, including:

• Burns less fat, so you gain weight faster
• Loss of muscle strength due to less use of muscles
• Weaker bones due to loss of minerals
• Difficulty in metabolizing fat and sugar
• The immune system works less effectively
• Poor blood circulation
• Inflammation in the body
• Hormonal imbalance

With all these negative impacts, many chronic diseases are waiting, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis and risk of falls, depression and anxiety, metabolic disorders, and cancer.

Read more: This Style Of Life Can Cause GERD

Signs of Sedentary Lifestyle

A body that doesn't move enough can affect you physically and mentally. Sometimes, you don't realize that your body is not moving enough. For this reason, recognize several signs that you are living a sedentary lifestyle:

Difficulty sleeping at night

Limited physical activity during the day can affect the body's circadian rhythm and cause sleep problems at night. One important factor in maintaining a circadian rhythm is exposure to sunlight during the day.

Sunlight helps regulate the production of the hormone melatonin, which helps regulate our sleep patterns. If we don't get enough sunlight during the day, our circadian rhythm can be disrupted, resulting in difficulty sleeping at night.

Fatigue

Lack of physical activity often causes the body to feel tired. Even though it seems contradictory, a lack of physical activity impacts decreasing energy, so the body experiences extreme fatigue.

When the body is less active, blood flow also becomes obstructed. As a result, the supply of oxygen and nutrients to body cells is reduced. This can cause increased fatigue and decreased energy.

Read more: Frequent Fatigue And Drowsiness In The Daytime, This Is The Cause

Difficulty concentrating

The body is less physically active, causing difficulty concentrating. Physical activity helps increase blood flow to the brain, supplying the brain with oxygen and nutrients necessary for optimal body function. Lack of physical activity can inhibit efficient blood flow, disrupt cognitive performance, and make concentrating difficult.

Body aches and pains

Lack of movement causes the body to feel aches and pains due to weakened muscles, and the flexibility of muscles and connective tissue decreases. Apart from that, a sedentary lifestyle also causes unergonomic sitting positions or results in poor posture. This causes tension in certain muscles and disrupts the body's postural balance, which ultimately causes aches and pains.

Increased weight

A physically inactive lifestyle can cause weight gain. When the body does not engage in sufficient physical activity, the calories consumed through food are not burned efficiently. Excess unburned calories can cause fat accumulation and weight gain.

Lack of physical activity can also hinder the body's ability to burn fat efficiently, leading to fat accumulation and weight gain.

If you need medical advice or consultation, you can either visit a doctor or use the consultation features available in the Ai Care application by downloading the Ai Care application from the App Store or Play Store.

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