For decades, the youth of our country have been engaging in behavior characteristically defined as reckless, stupid, and risky. In the Sixties, it was Rock and Roll and marijuana. For today’s youth, it’s something even more menacing. And we at Gustavus are not only buying into this behavior, we are in fact encouraging it.

This practice is none other than sitting down for extended periods of time, an activity more insidious than anything we have previously seen (quite literally, from the Latin sedere meaning, “to sit.” I kid you not; the word literally means, “to sit on.”)

Think about all the time we voluntarily sit, spending hours streaming television, listening to music, and sleeping

In all seriousness, the results of a recently conducted study have been published, and an alarming reality has emerged. Those who spend between eight to twelve hours sitting everyday are at more risk to die prematurely, and are at 90 percent more risk of contracting chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. The worst part of this information is that those who exercise in addition to sitting for extended periods of time are not exempt from this death sentence, although it does help a little. And it certainly is a death sentence, as physical inactivity is the number four cause of death in the world.

This statistic (probably heavily influenced by the contribution of North America and all of its sedentary people) raises extremely important questions about our health, habits, and society’s impact on them.

“Sitting is the new smoking.” By far, it is just as addictive and more lethal, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, depression, certain types of cancer, and other ominous conditions.

Whether you blame it on your desk job or on binge watching Netflix, the reality still comes through that as a culture we encourage and set up our institutions to favor sitting, forcing it even. This can be seen in the statistic that the average American sits for approximately 9.5 hours daily; that is just how our society is constructed.

For example, the fine establishment that we call Gustavus Adolphus College is ranked way up there with the healthiest schools in America. And yet, on a daily basis, I can personally say that I spend at least eight hours sitting, whether because I’m in class, studying, or the like. It is probably safe to say that most of you can say the same. Aside from cutting class to walk aimlessly through campus buildings, there really is no alternative to this occurrence.

It helps that most of us exercise, and that you have to walk every time you need to go somewhere on campus, but is that really enough to outweigh the impact that sedentary habits have on our health and lifespan? Is one hour of exercise enough to balance the 10 hours we spend being inactive? The obvious answer is no.

Think about all the time we voluntarily sit, spending hours streaming television, listening to music, and sleeping (although most normal people sleep horizontally, which really is a gray area in my book). Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist devoted to the research of the impacts of a sedentary lifestyle, claims,“Sitting is the new smoking.” By far, it is just as addictive and more lethal, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, depression, certain types of cancer, and other ominous conditions.

Some of you more thanatophobic individuals may be anxiously wondering what you can do to reduce the risk of death from sitting. The short answer is next to nothing. The longer answer recommends that standing and walking around periodically every few minutes helps counteract the effects of inactivity on the body. But really who has the time or focus to take a turn about the room every quarter of an hour while elbows deep in writing a paper or doing math homework. Personally my concentration would be shot if I did that.

In my opinion, the only thing you really can do is not worry excessively about this. We all knew that death was coming for us. What we didn’t know is that it would come in the form of an exorbitantly priced formal education, Hulu Plus, and a second-hand armchair. Maybe that’s why they took the couches out of the campus center.

-Ashley Nickel