Get Out More To Stay Healthy, Says Expert

The 21^st century lifestyle encourages people to stay inside a perennial shade. While a large number of working population spends most of their time in the office, others stay mostly at their homes.

Human beings need to get spend more time outdoors to stay healthy. Increasing indoor habits could trigger the chances of developing several serious health problems. For some people, the health problems could be fatal, says Vybarr Cregan-Reid, author of “Primate Change: How the world we made is changing us”.

Spending too much time outdoors may not be extremely good for the human body. But the human body is built in such a way that spending lot of time indoors could also confuse the systems.

A study published in the Nature Journal – titled “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants” – reported that an average American spent over 90 percent of time indoors even before the advent of smartphones and tablets.

As the shelters become sturdier and larger, there is a rapid increase in the time people spend indoors. However, human beings are yet to understand the health risks associated with a permanently sheltered life.

While trying to cope with the sedentary and shaded world made by the human beings, their bodies have waged war to target the harmless antigens. As a result, many of the body parts have become very weak. Some people struggle or fail to focus without the help of lenses, whereas few others suffer from weak bones. Their bones may not become strong enough to support the weight.

For example, short-sightedness is a rapidly growing health problem faced by the younger generation across the globe. A few experts believe that screen time plays a vital role in spoiling the eyes of children and teens. On the other hand, some people believe that this problem is driven by genetic factors.

However, several studies on short-sightedness in children have found that environmental factors play a vital role in reducing the risk of myopia. According to the research papers, children who are involved in outdoor activities have better vision than those spending more time indoors.

Katie Williams, co-author of a research paper on eye sight in children by King’s College London, said too much indoor activities can increase the risk of myopia. “A healthy balance of time outdoors and a balance during early education is important,” she added.

Another major problem faced by those who spend too much time indoors is vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is an important content that helps the human body in absorbing calcium from food. Calcium and phosphorus are important to strengthen the bones.

Apart from food, shelter and water, humans also need sunlight to stay healthy. So, the study suggests people to include some outdoor activities in their daily routine.