Sedentary Lifestyle and Its Consequences
What a sedentary lifestyle is, the difference between overweight, overfat and obese, and the long-term health risks of too little physical activity, from heart disease to weaker bones.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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The cost of sitting still
A sedentary lifestyle is one with little or no physical activity: a lot of sitting and very little exercise. Over time this has real effects on the body. In this module you will learn the precise difference between being overweight, overfat and obese, and the long-term health risks that a sedentary lifestyle brings.
The key words
This board wants you to tell these apart precisely:
Overweight is not overfat
The key exam point: overweight is about weight, but overfat is about body fat.
Match each term
- Overweight
- Overfat
- Obese
- Sedentary
- Weighing more than the recommended weight for your height
- Having more body fat than is healthy
- Being very overfat, with a large excess of body fat
- Living with little or no physical activity
Which is about body fat?
Which term is specifically about having too much body FAT?
- Overfat
- Overweight
- Underweight
- Sedentary
The long-term risks
Select the TWO long-term health risks of a sedentary lifestyle.
- Coronary heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Improved flexibility
- Stronger, denser bones
What it does to the body
A sedentary lifestyle raises the risk of serious long-term health problems: depression, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis (weaker bones). It also leads to a loss of muscle tone, poorer posture, and a drop in the components of fitness such as stamina and strength.
Sedentary living in words
A lifestyle with little or no physical activity is described as _____. Someone who weighs more than the recommended weight for their height is _____, while someone with too much body fat is _____. Over time this raises the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and _____. Without weight-bearing exercise, bones weaken, raising the risk of _____.
Risk or benefit?
Some of these are risks of a sedentary lifestyle and some are benefits of being active. Tap the TWO long-term health RISKS a sedentary lifestyle increases.
- Coronary heart disease
- Better cardiovascular fitness
- Type 2 diabetes
- Stronger, denser bones
- Improved flexibility
How the risks build up
Put the stages that link a sedentary lifestyle to poorer health in order.
- A person takes very little physical activity
- They take in more energy than their body uses
- The extra energy is stored as body fat
- Over time they become overfat
- Their long-term health risks increase
Apply what you know
Use the terms and health risks to answer each question.
- A rugby player weighs more than the recommended weight for their height, but has lots of muscle and very little fat. Which best describes them?
- Which long-term health problem is linked to a sedentary lifestyle?
- Why does a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of osteoporosis?
Explain the consequences
Explain the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle for a person's health. Use the terms overweight, overfat and obese, and name some long-term health risks. Write in clear, full sentences.
- Explain what a sedentary lifestyle is
- Explain the difference between overweight and overfat
- Name two long-term health risks it increases
- Explain one other effect, such as on posture or muscle tone