Until the pandemic hit, Americans were becoming less sedentary. The average amount of time spent sitting had been on a steady decline from 2013 to early 2020, then lockdowns and remote work became the norm and everything changed. But it’s been five years now and new research shows we’re still not as active as we were.
According to a new study, average sedentary time was around 5.9-hours a day between 2017 and 2020. Today, Americans are still sitting for around six hours every day and that hasn’t changed since 2021. So, what’s keeping us from getting off the couch? The technology we started using during lockdowns.
Experts think that all the conveniences we adopted back then play a big part in why Americans are still so sedentary. Our meetings went virtual, we swapped shopping cart pushing for grocery delivery and going out for a quick bite to eat turned into food delivery services bringing it right to our door. So moving less and sitting more became the new way of life for a lot of us, which isn’t great for our health. No one’s saying we have to hit the gym seven days a week, but small doses of daily movement can make a big difference and there’s no better time to start than now.
Source: Men's Journal⠀