A lot of diseases have “sedentary lifestyle” as one of their major precipitating factors.  Does that mean that as many as 50 million Americans are at risk for most diseases?  We guess so.  Sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of health problems and even early death.  Looks like we have plenty of candidates here, huh?

Steven Blair, a researcher, called Americans’ physical inactivity “the biggest public health problem of the 21st century.”  He was the one who stated that sedentary lifestyle has drastic effects to one’s health—in a negative way.

25 percent to 35 percent of American adults are inactive, according to research.  It could be because of their sedentary jobs, lack of physical activity program, or inactivity around the house or elsewhere.

Here’s a rundown of the findings:

* The ~50 million inactive people are virtually doubling their risk of developing numerous health conditions.
* The research comes primarily from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, which began in 1970 and includes more than 80,000 participants. They noted that fitness level was a significant predictor of mortality.
* The researchers periodically measured the participants’ body composition and body mass index, and each patient underwent a stress test. Researchers also looked at numerous other factors including the participants’ medical histories.
* One follow-up study of 40,842 longitudinal study participants, showed poor fitness level accounted for about 16 percent of all deaths in both men and women.
* This percentage was significantly higher than when other risk factors were considered, including obesity, smoking, high cholesterol and diabetes.
* The Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study also found that moderately fit men lived six years longer than unfit men.
* The study also showed that women who were very fit were 55 percent less likely to die from breast cancer than women who were not in good shape. This was after the researchers had controlled for BMI, smoking, family history of breast cancer and other possible risk factors.
* Blair also highlighted the benefits of exercise on the mind, referring to recent emerging evidence that activity delays the mind’s decline and is good for brain health overall.
* Doing something is better than doing nothing, and doing more is better than doing less.

We can do something about this if we want to live healthier and longer lives! Let’s say goodbye to sedentary lifestyle and say hello to new activities that we would enjoy.  Joining a team, running or walking group and enrolling in a gym class will go a long way.  But if you’re really the homebody type, why not purchase or rent exercise DVD’s that you can easily follow at home.  Better yet, find an accountability partner who will encourage you when sloth attacks.  Get your family involved by planning exercise-based family activities.  Seek professional guidance when necessary.  The possibilities are endless! You just have to get up from that couch and start with something.