The Good, Bad and Ugly of Sedentary Lifestyles

We are not made to be couch potatos

- Smt. Sujatha Rao

These days we see sedentary lifestyles being bashed on every medium possible – be it in newspapers, the internet, TV or social media platforms. For all the noise surrounding it, if you think people have become wiser and are springing themselves out of those comfortable couches to hit the gyms, you are sadly mistaken.

Despite the frequency at which the sedentary lifestyle is taking a beating it has taken its firm and unshakable seat in your living room, either in front of the idiot box or any other box-shaped object in your hands. It appears that sedentary is here to stay.

The Good

I have been one of the Yay Sayers to the entire din highlighting the ills of such a lifestyle, until I started reading "Guns, Germs and Steel," the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Jared Diamond.

In this book, Jared Diamond traces the historical roots of this trend, right from the rock ages. That's when I learned that this was the term used for the early human beings' lifestyles, as they transitioned themselves from hunter-gatherers to food-producing farmers.

While the hunter-gatherers had to frequently move in search of food in the wild, farmers needed to remain close to their fields. Over a period, this fixed abode led to denser human population also by permitting a shortened birth interval.