• 26 unhealthy conditions form the syndrome. (click here to view these conditions)
• One in 10 deaths is premature due to SeDS.
• The cost of sedentary-related conditions is $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
• Children are now getting adult-onset (type 2) diabetes
• 60% of overweight children have at least one cardiovascular risk factor.
• Many adolescents who are in the top 30% projected in body weight are already pre-diabetic.
• Children watching 1 hour of TV a day have less obesity than those watching 4 hr a day.
• Three out of four adults are sedentary and candidates for SeDS.
• Adult-onset diabetes increased 5-fold from 1958 to 1996.
• Three days of complete bed rest produces a prediabetic blood sugar.
• Secretary of Health, Human Services, and Labor Tommy Thompson estimates that moderate exercise could prevent 5.8 million new cases of type 2 diabetes.
• The first observable defect in type 2 diabetes usually often occurs in inactive skeletal muscle.
• Adult obesity increased 57% from 1991 to 1999.
• The CDC has written in JAMA: "Clearly, genes related to obesity are not responsible for the epidemic of obesity because the US gene pool did not change significantly between 1991 and 1999." Lack of exercise is an important factor.
• We are performing less physical activity than our ancestors, but our genes require us to be active in order to produce proteins that keep us healthy.
• It only takes 600 additional feet of walking each day by adults for the next 10 years to prevent adding 10 pounds of fat. The distance to prevent adding 10 pounds of fat in the next 10 years for 7- and 15-yr olds is 1200 and 730 feet, respectively, as kids have less weight to carry.
• Physical activity reduces colon cancer by 50%.
• "Bad" blood lipids are removed from the blood after moderate physical activity.
• The increase in type 2 diabetes at age 65 yrs is largely due the decrease in physical activity with aging.
• The 43 million without health insurance will not have access to expensive gene therapies, tissue replacements, stem cell therapies, etc. The highest frequency of chronic diseases occurs in the lower income group. An appropriate approach would be to practice primary preventive medicine including 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day.
• Moderate physical activity lessens the incidence of the decline in female cognitive function with aging.
• The average American was expected to spend 2.28 yrs during their lifespan in a nursing home in 1985. A program of physical activity that would delay their entry to nursing home by 1 year would save $50 billion.

(Sedentary is defined as less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, equivalent to brisk walking, each day). Information is based upon US statistics. We strive to be accurate; please contact us if we are not.