The Dangers of Sitting at a Desk All Day

Persuasive Speech – The Dangers of Sitting at a Desk All Day
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Persuasive Speech – The Dangers of Sitting at a Desk All Day
How many of you sit at a desk all day? For those of you who do, have you ever stopped to think about the long-term effects of sitting in the same position day after day? Sitting at a desk all day can negatively affect our health. We have all heard that too much sitting is bad for our health, but most of us do not really understand what that means. Sitting for hours on end every day can lead to serious health problems. According to Olusola and Olanipekun (2017, p. 40), the percentage of people who are not physically active enough to help their health ranges from 60 to 85 percent of the global population. Furthermore, lifestyle diseases associated with inactivity have increased in recent decades in the US following the adoption of increasingly sedentary careers and lifestyles (Rosenthal et al., 2017). In this speech, I will talk about three of the most significant dangers of sitting at a desk all day: an elevated danger of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, to show you why you should make an effort to get up and move around as often as possible.
First, sitting for long periods increases our risk of heart illnesses. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) report that sitting for more than long hours per day is the most important factor in increasing your risk of heart disease (DiPietro et al., 2017). In fact, the NIH reports that sitting for long periods every day increases the risk of heart disease considerably (DiPietro et al., 2017). This is because sitting all day increases the amount of fat in our blood and makes it harder for the heart to pump blood. When you sit, your muscles are inactive, and your metabolism slows down. This means you are more likely to accumulate fat in your blood vessels and develop heart disease (DiPietro et al., 2017). There is evidence that sitting for long periods raises blood pressure, which elevates the risk of stroke and heart disease, and reduces the number of healthy cholesterol levels. This is especially true for people who work desk jobs. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Second, obesity is also a consequence of a sedentary lifestyle, pointing to the danger of sitting at a desk all day. According to the CDC, over one-third of American adults are obese, which raises their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, several cancer types, as well as numerous other health issues (Rosenthal et al., 2017). Obesity is caused by excessive body fat, insufficient exercise, and a poor diet (Olusola & Olanipekun, 2017). A sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity because it increases the amount of time we spend eating and decreases the amount of time we spend exercising. The body burns fewer calories when sitting down compared to when walking around. In fact, research has show...