A sedentary lifestyle refers to a form of life where an individual is engaged in activities that involves the use of little energy. Therefore, it implies that the person do not undertake any form of physical activity. The adolescence stage is a critical transition where teenagers experience physical, cognitive and psychosocial development as they prepare for their adulthood. As such, it implies that adolescents ought to actively participate in physical activities to promote their growth and development. The reduction of sedimentary behaviors among teenagers is one of the strategies to reduce the prevalence of health issues associated with inactive lifestyles. That said, physical activities among the adolescents enhance musculoskeletal development, cardiovascular and metabolic functions in the body. An increase in metabolism suggests that the body can effectively break down fats and thus reduce the adolescents’ chances of developing sedentary lifestyle diseases. Some of these health issues are the coronary heart disease, obesity, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. The other health risks that are prevalent among adolescents are lipid abnormalities, colon cancer, and osteoporosis.
The English literature is in consensus that physical inactivity, especially among adolescents, is one of the primary causes of health issues among teenagers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) recommends that an adult ought to engage in both 75 minutes of rigorous exercises. CDC also encourage people to participate in some form of moderate physical activities for about 2 hours and twenty minutes weekly as a strategy to exercise their bodies. The health professionals, on the other hand, are in consensus that walking 10, 000 steps daily is an essential step towards reducing health risks that are directly attributed to a sedentary form of lifestyle. The World Health Organization is also in agreement that inactivity exposes one to various health risks. WHO, in this case, asserts that about 60 to 85% of the global population does not engage in adequate physical activities. World Health Organization contends that inadequate engagement in physical activities is currently among the primary drivers of global mortality (WHO, 2017).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Cardiovascular and metabolic health issues are the most detrimental outcomes of a sedentary lifestyle among children at an adolescence stage. The explanation behind this situation is the fact that physical inactivity limits a child's development that enhances a healthy and active life. Arguably, an adolescent requires adequate exercise to achieve and maintain weight. Mark and Janssen (2008) carried out a quantitative study to investigate the relationship between physical inactivity and health risks, such as the coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disorders. The results suggested that physical inactivity is a risk factor of the cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases. The researchers had studied adolescents aged 12 to 19. The participants lived a sedentary lifestyle where they spent a substantial proportion of their time watching TVs and engaging in computer games. Also, the researchers used teenagers who regularly engaged in physical activities as the control experiment. They noted that the prevalence of metabolic syndromes among the participants that lived sedentary lifestyles was three times higher than those who engaged in five-hour physical activities daily.
A physically active adolescent tends to have a higher self-esteem, body satisfaction, and physical self-perception compared to their counterparts that live sedentary lifestyles — as such, increasing adolescents' physical activity is one approach to enhance their psychological health independent of the changes in their bodies. From this perspective, it is apparent that there is a relation between a sedentary lifestyle and psychosocial health among teenagers. Physical activities make the adolescents active besides the fact that it stimulates their brains to think. Therefore, it is sound to argue that physical exercise improves the adolescent's mental and physical health. Pardee et al., (2007) noted that sedentary lifestyle reduces metabolism in the body and thus the emergence of adverse health issues. The adolescents that are physically inactive may develop hormonal imbalance and poorer blood circulation. Since it negatively impacts on the level of metabolism in the body, the breakdown of sugar and fats is limited.
The statistics held by the World Health Organization indicate that sedentary lifestyle stimulate various health risks among the teenagers. In this case, health empirical evidence identify cardiovascular health issues, blood pressure, diabetes and obesity as sedentary life related concerns (WHO, 2017). The other complications are colon cancer, anxiety, and depression, osteoporosis, and lipid disorders. As a result, WHO encourages parents and guardians to limit sedentary behaviors at childhood. The World Health organization also recommends that the adolescents spend at least 30 minutes to exercise daily. Over recent years, the number of obese children has sharply increased in developed countries, especially in the US, United Kingdom and Canada. A significant proportion of overweight adolescents live a sedentary lifestyle that reduces the rate of metabolism in their bodies. Childhood obesity is directly linked to low breakdown of fats and calories in one's body since physically inactive children have a low metabolism. Some of these sedentary behaviors are video gaming, viewing of television, and using computers. Besides obesity, the other health issues whose causes are linked to sedentary lifestyles are heart diseases and diabetes, to mention but a few.
The other health issues attributed to sedentary lifestyles are musculoskeletal problems. Children ought to engage in adequate physical exercises to stimulate the growth of their muscles and bones. Therefore, it implies that the bodies of the children that live sedentary lifestyles have limited movement. The ultimate consequence is that their joints, muscles, and bones are not adequately exercised. The teenagers will likely feel pain and experience problems in their lower extremities, necks, and spines since they are not physically exercised. In this case, a lack of physical exercise adversely affects both the muscles and the bones where the eventual consequence is the development of musculoskeletal health problems. Besides the low growth of bones, a sedentary lifestyle weakens the functioning of the brain. The study by Biddle and Asare (2011) corroborates that physical inactivity limits the proper flow of ideas among adolescents. The ultimate consequence of sedentary lifestyle, therefore, is low mental development that directly impacts on the reasoning ability of a teenager. The essence of physical activities in the growth of a child explains the reasons as to why educational institutions encourage interactive learning and fun programs. These activities enhance both mental and physical growth. The authors further assert that a sedentary lifestyle at a childhood stage makes the adolescents develop dementia at their adulthood.
High blood pressure among adolescents is directly associated with teenagers’ engagement in sedentary behaviors. The research by Martinez-Gomez et al., (2009) indicates that prolonged screen time and TV viewing increase the prevalence of blood pressure among the adolescents independent of their body composition. In this case, the researchers carried out a cross-sectional study that involved teenage participants with the aim to understand the link between sedentary behaviors and health concerns, such as blood pressure and obesity. The results indicated that a sedentary lifestyle stimulates the development of obesity. Once a teenager is obese, there are high chances of developing blood pressure. However, several hereditary factors contribute to the development of blood pressure among teenagers, but a sedentary lifestyle is a significant contributor. However, the authors noted that there is evidence that links blood pressure to an inactive lifestyle with adiposity among adolescents.
The lack of physical activity and its relation to obesity has attracted the attention of several researchers considering that its causes, especially among teenagers seem complicated ( Tremblay et al., 2010 ). However, the rate of obesity has increased in the recent years. This aspect is attributed to the reasoning that many children in the developed economies spend a substantial proportion of their time in indoors sedentary leisure instead of physical activities. The teenagers that live sedentary lifestyles do not utilize their energy since they engage in activities that do not promote physical fitness. According to Hancox, Milne, and Poulton (2004), the adolescents that spend more than 2 hours in sedentary behaviors per day account to about 17% of the obese children. It is, therefore, apparent from this point that obesity and overweight are health risks that directly link to inactive lifestyles among teenagers. The study further shows that hypertension develops at the adulthood stage once an adolescent is overweight. Also, obese adolescents are at risk of the coronary heart disease as they grow to adulthood.
An inactive lifestyle increases the risks of colon cancer among adolescents. However, the prevalence of colon cancer is higher among children compared to adults. A study by McTiernan (2008) indicates that adolescents that engage in a sedentary lifestyle have 22% risks of developing lung cancer. The research further suggests that there is a 32% risk for endometrial cancer and 24% colon cancer among teens. Also, a sedentary lifestyle increases the chances of a sudden change of moods among children. The ultimate health consequence is psychological distress that adversely affects the mental functioning of adolescents. However, some of the sedentary behaviors, such as prolonged watching of television and video gaming increase anxiety and consequently affect cognitive reasoning.
The development of sedentary lifestyle risks is attributed to the fact that teenagers who ought to be actively engaged in physical activities are not participating in any physical exercise. Their prolonged sitting and engagement in other forms of sedentary behaviors may also stimulate vein problems and consequently venous disorders. This health risk exposes adolescents to adverse circulatory problems that include blood flow in their bodies. Lack of proper blood circulation implies that adolescents are at risks of developing other health complications, such as Pulmonary Embolism. This health condition lowers the flow of blood especially in the brain cells and lower parts of the body.
Health behaviors among the adolescents that live sedentary lifestyles have raised concerns, especially in the developed countries. Recently, the United States has recorded an increase in sedentary-associated epidemics among its teenagers. Obesity is one of the primary health issues associated with the children that live sedentary forms of life. It renders the adolescents inactive at an early stage where they deserve adequate exercises to stimulate growth and development in their bodies. As such, sedentary lifestyles cause an array of health complications that are linked to the lack of physical fitness, low psychosocial, cognitive and physical development. Some of the health risks of an inactive lifestyle among teenagers are high blood pressure, embolic syndrome, and obesity. It also include epidemics such as type 2 diabetes and mental concerns, such as increased anxiety and depression.
References
Biddle, S. J., & Asare, M. (2011). Physical activity and mental health in children and Adolescents: a review of reviews. British journal of sports medicine , 45 (11), 886-895. Retrieved from: http://vuir.vu.edu.au/29912/1/Mental%20health%20review%20of%20reviews%20(BJSM%202011)%20(IR%2025-1-16).pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2016). Physical Activity among Adolescents.
Hancox, R. J., Milne, B. J., & Poulton, R. (2004). Association between child and adolescent Television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. The Lancet , 364 (9430), 257-262. Retrieved from: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.459.2527&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Mark, A. E., & Janssen, I. (2008). A relationship between screen time and metabolic syndrome In Adolescents. Journal of public health , 30 (2), 153-160.
Martinez-Gomez, D., Tucker, J., Heelan, K. A., Welk, G. J., & Eisenmann, J. C. (2009). Associations between sedentary behavior and blood pressure in young children. Archives Of pediatrics & adolescent medicine , 163 (8), 724-730. Retrieved from: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/486468
McTiernan, A. (2008). Mechanisms linking physical activity with cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer , 8 (3), 205. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc2325
Pardee, P. E., Norman, G. J., Lustig, R. H., Preud’homme, D., & Schwimmer, J. B. (2007). Television viewing and hypertension in obese children. American journal of preventive \ medicine , 33 (6), 439-443. Retrieved from: https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(07)00526-0/pdf
Tremblay, M. S., Colley, R. C., Saunders, T. J., Healy, G. N., & Owen, N. (2010). Physiological And health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied physiology, nutrition, and Metabolism , 35 (6), 725-740.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2017). Physical inactivity a leading cause of disease and disability, warns WHO. WHO. Retrieved 2 9, 2019, from https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/release23/en/
