June 30, 2025: Dr. Khura asserts that a sedentary lifestyle is comparable to smoking in that it increases health risks. She shares how it affects your health and ways to be more active.
Officials frequently lead sedentary lifestyles by spending the majority of their workdays sitting at their desks and working on computers. With hectic work schedules, some people do find time to go to the gym. However, most of their time throughout the day is spent sitting, and this could lead to increased health risks.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Jayanti Khura, consultant-internal medicine, Manipal Hospital Bhubaneswar, talked about how a sedentary lifestyle increases disease risks, what you can do to be more active apart from hitting the gym, and how a lack of body movement affects our health.
‘Sedentary lifestyle as harmful as smoking’
"A sedentary lifestyle, which includes more sitting and less movement throughout the day, increases various health risks," Dr. Khura explained. It is as harmful as smoking, even if you are not a smoker.”
According to the expert, our bodies are designed for movement. Therefore, "we not only reduce our physical health but also interfere with vital bodily functions like metabolism, circulation, and digestion" when we deny them that necessary activity.