Sedentary lifestyle, a silent killer (2)

OLUFUNKE FROM PUNCH

I got a text message from a reader. I will like us to look into it. He wrote, “I like to snack on groundnuts a lot and I noticed that any time I eat without restraints, my LDL cholesterol shoots up to the extent that my doctor had to advise me to stop eating it for some time and that any time I start eating it again, after my cholesterol levels must have normalised, I should do so very moderately and only occasionally. In the light of my experience and in the face of your conclusion and admonition (that people should be eating egunsi), I am a bit confused.”

My response to this is that my stance on the fact that plant foods do not have cholesterol still stands. Groundnut does not contain cholesterol; in fact, it has cholesterol lowering properties. If a particular food is considered healthy, even if it has the World Health Organisation stamp as a superfood but it causes health issues for you, please, abstain from it.

I started discussions on sedentary lifestyle last week. Let us continue.

What are the health risks of an inactive lifestyle? Let us see some:

Obesity

Heart diseases, including coronary artery disease and heart attack

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

Stroke

Metabolic syndrome

Type 2 diabetes

Certain cancers, including colon, breast and uterine cancers

Osteoporosis

Increased feelings of depression and anxiety

Apart from all these, a sedentary lifestyle also appears to have a negative impact on mental well-being. The combination of the physical and mental impact to health makes a sedentary lifestyle particularly problematic. One study with 10,381 participants associated a sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity with a higher risk of developing a mental health disorder. A review that included data from 110,152 participants found a link between sedentary behaviour and an increased risk of depression. The more sedentary you are, the higher your health risks are.

Aimee Layton, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist from Columbia University and a Peloton Health & Wellness Advisory Council member, says, “Simply put: our bodies were not made to be stationary for long periods.”

 How long is too long to sit still?

Jessica Matthews, DBH, a national board-certified health and wellness coach and assistant professor of Kinesiology and Integrative Wellness at Point Loma Nazarene University, says that “the general recommendation is to reduce prolonged sedentary behaviour to no more than 60 minutes at a time.”

Joe Holder, a Nike Master Trainer and health and wellness consultant, says, “To reduce inactivity, focus on a greater frequency of movement throughout the day. At the end of every hour, aim for three to six minutes of movement. Set an alarm and just stand up, walk around. Do some sit-to-stands from your chair. These exercises break up prolonged periods of sitting and get your blood flowing. I cannot really speak enough about the need for you to let your body do what it was made to do: not sit.”

The WHO guidelines and recommendations provide details for different age groups and specific population groups on how much physical activity is needed for good health. There are recommendations for children under one to two years of age, three to four, five to 17, adults aged 18–64 years, adults aged 65 years and above, pregnant and postpartum women, people living with chronic conditions, children and adolescents living with disability and adults living with disability.

I find the inclusion of the one-two age group so amusing but that shows how concerned the WHO is. Besides, it is good to catch them young. Space will not permit me to talk about all the WHO physical activity guidelines for all the groups, but I will talk about the guideline for adults aged 18-64 years.