Question
Despite the growing number of gyms and fitness centres, more and more people are leading a
sedentary lifestyle in the modern society.
What problems are associated with this? What solutions can you suggest?
Answer
In the twenty-first century, an unprecedented number of people are living sedentary lifestyles due to
changes in our work and social habits. This is a seriously dangerous phenomenon and greatly
threatens our health and happiness. This essay will look at the problems and solutions.
The problems stemming from a sedentary lifestyle are numerous, but mostly they relate to health.
The human body has evolved over millions of years to be active, and this sudden change in our
behaviour is unnatural. Our bones, ligaments, and muscles all suffer greatly from spending long
periods of time sitting down. It is common now for people to suffer from neck pain, for example, due
to being hunched over our computers. Moreover, by not moving about enough we face the problem
of burning insufficient calories. This means that we tend to become overweight and suffer from an
array of obesity-related illnesses.
Solving this problem will not be easy because people don’t want to return to the days of hard work
and long-distance walking. Education at a young level is of course of paramount importance. Once
we teach our children to be active, it will encourage them to continue this pattern of behaviour in
later life. Beyond that, we need to transition away from sedentary workplace environments and a
reliance upon cars as a primary mode of transportation. It is simply too easy for people to avoid
activity when they are confined to a desk or car seat for most of their day.
In conclusion, the modern trend towards inactivity is worrying because of the host of health
problems which stem from it. Solving this problem will be a major challenge, but there are some
things that can be done.
