HEALTH experts recommend regular physical activity to maintain a healthy body and prevent the attack of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by fighting against sedentary lifestyle. By the nature of their work, all office workers if are not careful, are likely to develop a sedentary lifestyle.

NCDs associated with sedentary behaviour, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronical lung disease, which are collectively responsible for 74 per cent of all deaths worldwide.

“More than three-quarters of all NCD deaths, and 86 per cent of the 17 million people, who died prematurely, or before reaching 70 years of age, occur in low- and middle-income countries,” says WHO. Additionally, it says NCDs pose devastating health consequences for individuals, families and communities, and threaten to overwhelm health systems.

The Ministry of Health, through Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), developed a national Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) manual, which was published in 2023 for Mainland Tanzania’s healthy population through a broad consultative process.

The manual defines sedentary behaviour as: “Any waking behaviour characterised by an energy expenditure of 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) or lower while sitting, reclining, or lying.”

It says most desk-based office work, driving a car, and watching a TV are examples of sedentary behaviour, which can also apply to persons who are unable to stand, or those using a wheelchair.

According to the manual, an NCD is a medical condition or disease that is not caused by infectious agents. It can refer to chronic diseases that last for a long-time and progress slowly. “They result from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, behavioural and dietary factors,” says the manual.

Sedentary lifestyle is a source of NCDs. The manual says replacing sedentary time with physical activity of any intensity (including light intensity) provides health benefits.

Citing a 2009 WHO report, the manual, which contains technical recommendations, says physical inactivity (sedentary lifestyle) is estimated to be the main cause of about 21-25 per cent of breast and colon cancer, 27 per cent of diabetes and 30 per cent of ischemic heart disease.

It suggests that evidence from studies conducted in developing countries confirms that physical inactivity influences other chronic disease risk factors such as blood pressure, lipid levels, and obesity.

“A systematic review on the role of physical activity in prevention of hypertension reported that the elimination of physical inactivity would remove between 6 per cent and 10 per cent of the major NCDs of coronary heart diseases, type-2 diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer while increasing life expectancy.”

A paper titled “Research Priorities for Non-Communicable Diseases in Humanitarian Crises: Focus on Cardio-Metabolic Syndrome” published in London in 2024 acknowledges that NCDs have historically received limited attention in humanitarian response efforts.

It suggests that the burden of NCDs in humanitarian settings is particularly high, and their management is often deprioritised due to limited resources and competing priorities. “The ability to respond to chronic diseases in both acute and long-term crisis settings is not well established, with access to care inadequate and frequently disrupted.”

Sedentary lifestyle also is responsible for overweight and obesity, which are conditions of abnormal or excessive fat accumulation in the body that may impair health. “Overweight is usually classified using body mass index (BMI) defined as a person’s body weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in metres (BMI = kg/m2).

The manual gives the following information of BMI based on age groups. For adults, overweight is a BMI greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2, and obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2.

For children below 5 years old, overweight is weight-for-height greater than 2 standard deviations above the WHO Child Growth Standards median, and obesity is weight-for-height greater than 3 standard deviations above the WHO Child Growth Standards median. For children aged 5-19 years, overweight is BMI-for-age greater than 1 standard deviation above the WHO Growth Reference median, and obesity is greater than 2 standard deviations above the WHO Growth Reference median.

The manual defines physical activity (active lifestyle) as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure. It says examples include walking, running, dancing, and doing household chores.

“The fourth leading risk factor for death around the world is physical inactivity, which accounts for about 6 per cent of all deaths. Overweight and obesity account for 5 per cent of deaths globally. High blood pressure, tobacco use, and high blood sugar account for 13 per cent, 9 per cent, and 6 per cent of the deaths respectively.”

The manual stresses that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, breast cancer, and depression. While most people are physically active, the manual notes, a high proportion of people living in urban areas are not as active as those living in rural areas.