Many people live a physically inactive environment due to various reasons such as neighborhoods with poor sidewalk and street infrastructure, few safe spaces for physical activity, and few destinations within walking or biking distance from their home. Physical inactivity can have serious effects on people’s health. Sedentary lifestyle has become fourth contributing factors to disease development such as cardiovascular diseases,obesity, cancer, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety. According to WHO, 60 to 85% of people across the globe lead sedentary lifestyles, making it one of the more serious yet insufficiently addressed public health problems in modern times. The Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) defined sedentary behavior as any activity involving sitting, reclining, or lying down that has a very low energy expenditure. The measurement for energy expenditure is metabolic equivalents (METs), and the activities that expend 1.5 METs or less of energy is considered to be sedentary.
Therefore, reducing sedentary behaviors and increasing physical activity are both important to improve public health and reduce risks of early death. It is best to combine a variety of cardiovascular exercises, such as running or cycling, with strength-training exercises, which can include weight training or body-weight exercises.
References: