If you’re stuck in an eight-to-five job and your office computer monitor is the first and last thing you have to stare at every day, then you must be in need of a very good desk and chair to help you get away with back and neck pains brought by prolonged sitting at only one position.

Prolonged exposure to computers has more negative effects that people fail to see. They take for granted the health benefits that a good office chair can provide as well as the clear computer monitor shield that the company provides for them – well, sometimes. They also fail to realize that bad posture is only one of the many work-related injuries that most people who work in offices suffer from.

One of the negative and probably the most dangerous effect that sitting in front of the computer almost eight hours a day can bring is having a sedentary lifestyle.

A sedentary lifestyle is a mode of living in which a person, an adult or child, does not engage in sufficient physical activity or exercise for what is generally considered healthy living. It is a common lifestyle especially in modern civilizations where a person sits most of the day.

You probably don’t get tired too much with this kind of lifestyle but you don’t get to do much, either. And this is where the problem comes in.

According to a study carried out by the University of Hong Kong and the Department of Health, following a sedentary lifestyle is more dangerous for your health than smoking.

The study reported that 20% of all deaths of people 35 and older were attributed to a lack of physical activity. This is a higher percentage compared to the deaths caused by smoking.

Researchers looked at the level of physical activity of people who died and were able to correlate their level of physical activity with their risk of dying. Having a sedentary lifestyle is also believed to be a factor in obesity and having heart disease.

Being a mouse potato – a person who spends an excessive amount of time in front of the computer – counts as being sedentary. Bad posture and muscle pains are also included in the effects of being sedentary.

So if you can’t help being seated for most of the day, at least try to stand and stretch your muscles every hour to have some kind of physical activity. Also try observing proper body posture when sitting to minimize back and neck pains.

Sources
Natural News
Wisegeek