Research Essay ( Sedentary Lifestyle) PDF

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Explain how the increase in sedentary lifestyle has become a major health issue. Refer to one or more countries as examples. Currently, several improvements have been made in handling day-to-day aspects of life, creating easier methods and jobs that require less physical activity. Although this decrease in physical exertion makes for a comfortable lifestyle, this behavior actually has several negative implications, specifically in regard to human health. In this essay, a sedentary lifestyle can be defined as a lifestyle mostly consisting of low energy expenditure: some examples being sitting in traffic, using the computer, and watching television for extended periods of time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2002), 60 to 85% of the world’s population participate in sedentary behaviour, which implies that this issue could worsen since this behaviour has started to become more common with the masses. This essay aims to explain why a sedentary lifestyle has become an increasingly alarming health issue on different demographics—firstly, the effects of sedentary behavior on the health of children and adolescents, secondly, adults, and lastly, the elderly.

Firstly, the increase of a sedentary lifestyle becomes a major health issue because of the various negative health risks that could affect the youth. In gauging sedentary behaviour in children, measuring the time spent on electronic devices has become a common method. Back in May 2014, through the Global Summit on Physical Activity of Children, it was found that several countries including Canada, Scotland, and Nigeria, failed to meet the recommended screen time for children under 17 years old (less than 2 hours a day) (Straker et al., 2016). This implies that the use of electronic devices has become widely overlooked in considering the well-being of the youth. Hancox, Milne, and Poulton (2004) state that children that spend more than 2 hours on television a day had higher serum cholesterol. Additionally, a study by Dasgupta et al. (2006) shows these individuals also have a higher risk of suffering from a high blood pressure. This evidence indicates that a child’s level of screen time has a positive correlation with a risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, there have been various associations made with watching television and childhood obesity due to the time spent away from physical activity and the tendency to consume unhealthy food during this pastime (Lajunen et al., 2007). Apart from chronic diseases, research by Straker et al. (2011) explains that sitting idle for extended periods of time may

impact motor development in children due to the low utilization of muscle movement and retention of poor posture. Considering these risks, it is alarming that this behaviour becomes common amongst the youth due to the possibility that this can become habitual due to its presence in a child’s early stages of development. Research conducted by Wojtyła-Buciora et al. (2014) suggests that children already participating in copious amounts of physical activity are most likely to sustain this behaviour later on. Inversely speaking, this effect can also be applied to the youth who do not lead physically active lifestyles as this is also maintained in reaching adulthood.

Secondly, as sedentary behaviour increases reaching adulthood, this lifestyle becomes a major concern with regards to human health. In adults, sedentary behaviour is usually exhibited in the time spent utilizing electronic devices such as computers and televisions; domain-specific activities such as in the workplace and in transport; and other methods of leisure (Healy et al., 2011). Research by Waters et al. (2016) show that on a typical working day, individuals could spend more than half of the day engaging in sedentary behaviour. In fact, in countries like Singapore, Win et al. (2015) found that 37% of adults spend an excessive amount of time sitting—more than eight hours daily. This evidence proves to be a major concern considering that physical inactivity is the world’s fourth leading cause of death due to non-communicable diseases, and also causes over three million preventable deaths each year (The Victoria State Government, Better Health Channel, 2018). Non-communicable diseases in this case, include obesity, cardiometabolic diseases, and even cancer—all of which have long-lasting effects (González, Fuentes, & Márquez, 2017). According to Hu et al. (2003), every two-hour increase in television-viewing time comes with a 23% increase in the risk of developing obesity. Additionally, research by Mansoubi, Pearson, Biddle, and Clemes (2014) has linked sedentary behaviour to an increased risk of diabetes. Inyang and Okey-Orji (2015) also mention that sedentary behaviour can bring about vitamin deficiencies which could further progress into more serious diseases— bone diseases, organ malfunctions, osteoarthritis, and heart failure to name a few. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) (as cited in Block, Zaslavsky, Ding, & Ayanian, 2009) identified prolonged sitting time as a factor in the risk of developing colon cancer in men and women, and

endometrial cancer in women. Considering these adverse effects that could potentially happen to adults, it is evident that sedentary behaviour calls for major concern. Lastly, with a prolonged idle time brought by the inability to participate in physical activity, a sedentary lifestyle has become a more serious health concern when considering individuals over the age of 65. A study in Iceland conducted by Arnardottir et al. (2012), reports that 74.5% of the average individual’s waking day is spent on sedentary behaviour, while 21.3% is through low-energy activities. Participants of this study also reportedly fail to satisfy the recommended amount of physical activity—thirty minutes daily. Additionally, a study by Davis et al. (as cited in Stamatakis, Davis, Stathi, & Hamer, 2011) finds that 50% of the older individuals originating from the United Kingdom are more than 80% of the time sedentary. This implicates that sedentary behaviour occupies a sizeable amount of an individual’s day, which is concerning given the possible health effects. Research by Chastin, Ferriolli, Stephens, Fearon, & Greig (2011) show a direct correlation between sedentary time and lower limb adiposity in older males, despite the participants of this study being objectively healthy. In relation, sedentary behaviour, independent of moderate to high levels of exercise, has an association with an increase in cardiometabolic risk and diabetes (Stamatakis et al., 2011). This exemplifies that despite the maintenance of healthy habits, sedentary time is still a major indicator of an individual’s overall health. Furthermore, Tam-Seto et al. (2016) state that as older adults develop inhibitors in physical health such as arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions, movement becomes challenging, thus promoting engagement in sedentary behaviour. Although, maintaining overall movement is found to be highly beneficial to older individuals. Findings by Vivas et al. (2019) indicate that improved cognitive and emotional regulation come with an increase in active behaviour. Bamrotia1, Patel, and Joshi (2017) add to this by stating that a lower risk of stroke, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and even death are all benefits that come with an increase of physical activity for the elderly. With this information in mind, sedentary behaviour is a major consideration when assessing the health of older individuals.

In conclusion, this essay has explained how sedentary behaviour has developed into a major health concern through the elaboration of the health implications brought by this lifestyle on children and adolescents, adults, and lastly, the aged. All of the effects discussed are

important in explaining why a sedentary lifestyle has become such a leading health risk. This is because it is shown that despite the age, an individual can suffer from the effects brought by this type of behaviour. In fact, it is also proven to become more harmful as age progresses. REFERENCE LIST

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