WORLD.- We all know it, the exhausting work routine, school and home chores usually leave us with very little time to do any other activity, such as exercising. We sometimes arrive home so tired, that the only thing we want to do is just lay back and watch some TV, eat or sleep, but do you know how much damage comes from having this kind of lifestyle? This goes way beyond just gaining weight, this habit has been compared to the habit of smoking, assuring that remaining seated is just as unhealthy as inhaling smoke that contains nicotine.

A Canadian investigation, quoted by a TIME's post, followed for a period of 12 years a total of 17,000 people of all ages and sizes, with the purpose of finding what impact inactivity had in their lives. Surprisingly, those who reported spending a bigger number of hours sitting down, died at younger age regardless of whether they exercised, pointing out that spending to much time seated is unhealthy on its own.

In fact, a 2013 survey also revealed that spending too much time on a chair increased the possibilities of suffering from depression, given that remaining in the same position usually affects circulation and prevent "pleasure" hormones to get to our brains.

"Your body is design to move. Sitting for long periods of time causes the body to "shut down" up to a metabolic level", explained study author, Marc Hamilton for Runners World digital edition, where he also detailed that by reducing circulation, less sugar in our blood is processed and we burn less fat, increasing our possibilities of heart attack.

Another fact that will surely make us stand up more often is that sitting down has been linked by scientists to difference types of cancer, such as breast, colon, lung and prostate cancer: "The evidence suggests that the more time we spend seated, the bigger the risk. It also seems that exercising won't compensate for all that time we spend on a chair", warned Runners World, Dr. Neville Owen.

So lets start getting those legs stretched and start looking for new ways of going through our daily activities, away from chairs, couches and stools. This is a new habit that promises to improve not just our physical but also our mental health. Worth trying it. Don't you think?

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elizabeth.rosales@sandiegored.com

zyanya.figueroa@sandiegored.com