In addition to the physical impacts, a sedentary lifestyle can also be linked to mental aspects.

With one of the highest rates of sedentary lifestyle in Latin America, Brazil stands out — according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) — with around 47% of Brazilians in these conditions without practicing the amount of physical exercise recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, in a direct relationship with the pandemic, the number of sedentary individuals in Brazil has increased in recent years.

Cláudia Forjaz, professor at the School of Physical Education and Sport (EEFE) at the University of São Paulo, differentiates sedentary lifestyle into two aspects: sedentary behavior — in which the individual spends hours in front of a screen, in a sitting or lying position — and physical inactivity. She also states that, from a health point of view, the best option would be to avoid both, spending little time in front of screens and practicing at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

Relationship with comorbidities

The specialist explains that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to most existing chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, which are the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In this sense, they are worse in individuals who have a sedentary behavior or are not active enough, which highlights a relationship between a sedentary lifestyle and cardiovascular diseases.

“We have the effect of physical activity on the musculoskeletal aspect, so individuals who do not practice physical activity will have lower muscle mass, lower muscle strength, more joint problems, greater bone loss, increasing the chance of having osteopenia or osteoporosis, and today we also know that the health of this musculoskeletal system is related to mortality”, he adds. The professor explains that this is an even greater concern when it relates to elderly individuals, who often already have their musculoskeletal system damaged by age, or when it relates to women, because of the low male hormone — responsible for this musculature —. amount.

Still on the physical aspects, Cláudia also relates sedentary practice to other chronic diseases, such as, for example, cancer, which is increasing significantly in the population. “There is an inverse relationship between the level of physical activity that a person practices and the chance of developing some types of cancer, mainly colon and breast cancer. So, these are cancers that practicing physical activity helps prevent,” she warns.

For the treatment of these diseases, the professor states that the beneficial effect of practicing physical exercise and breaking sedentary behavior has already been well demonstrated, even if, in most cases, this is associated with drug therapies. “The benefits are achieved without the person needing to reach high exercise intensities, everything they do is better than doing nothing, and if they want to have a greater, more specific benefit, and so on, they should look for a qualified professional , which will guide what would be the best exercise protocol, but I think it is important to emphasize this, this very low activity that we do on a daily basis already brings benefits to our health”, he adds.

Mental impacts of a sedentary lifestyle

In addition to the physical aspects, the teacher states that, currently, there is knowledge about the relationship between a sedentary lifestyle and diseases related to emotional and mental aspects, and comments: “So we have an inverse relationship between the level of physical activity, for example, and the risk of Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, or other mood-related disorders.” From a preventive point of view, Cláudia explains that there is already a good number of studies and scientific evidence showing that regular physical activity helps prevent these diseases.

Regarding treatment, she states that there is already evidence of a reduction in symptoms in mental illnesses through physical exercise. “Today, any guideline, practically for all types of chronic diseases, will include non-drug treatment, including regular physical activity”, she adds. However, she warns that the work relating these benefits is still very recent, which prevents science from knowing, with greater accuracy, the best exercises and results for each case — unlike what happens in the treatment of physical illnesses, about which there is already greater knowledge.

Sigmar Malvezzi, professor at the Institute of Psychology (IP) at USP, also develops the relationship between mental aspects and a sedentary lifestyle: “Every living being, in order to continue living and developing, depends on a process called adaptation, which is its relationship with the world. It is not about adjusting peacefully, passively, it depends on adjusting, sometimes submitting and sometimes modifying the world outside of him.”

The teacher explains this to state that the individual can create the habit of doing physical exercise in themselves. “If he starts, in small ways, to be passive, to not act in the world, he gets into the habit of not acting and waits for the world to do what he needs”, he adds. In this sense, he highlights that depression, for example, is a consequence of the individual’s withdrawal from the world, in addition to anxiety, which causes the individual to not complete their actions, which causes chronic dissatisfaction.

Malvezzi states that, nowadays, many technologies have been created, replacing several human actions. In this way, they are seen as solutions for everything, and often make the subject lose their vision of acting in the world and control over it. “The individual does not want to change himself. You have to change some of your body’s habits, you have to think about your relationship with the world. Today, because of technology and our habits, people are losing the ability to criticize their own lives and their own relationship with the world, and then comes anxiety, depression, procrastination, because all of this is a form of escape, of removal. You have to face that”, he adds.

The professor comments that, although physical exercise is important for mental issues, its benefit depends on the individual’s stage of growth and action, which can regulate the organism’s adaptation to development. “It is clear that mental disorders do not depend only on physical activity. It helps, because regular physical activity disciplines the individual, they have to do it every day. The problem is that you perceive yourself as a subject, that is, adapting, modifying yourself. Now, you can wait for the world to give it to you, or for you to look for it in the world, learning from the rules the world has”, he concludes.

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