Many medical experts including researchers at the Mayo Clinic say yes.  There's consensus in the medical and wellness communities that lack of exercise, obesity and poor nutrition contribute greatly to many medical conditions including but not limited to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint disease and osteoporosis.  Now, for the first time, medical experts want to treat sedentary lifestyle as a medical condition in and of itself, much like obesity, smoking and addiction so that effective programs are developed and made accessible to address and prevent it.  While I'm on the fence regarding labeling lack of exercise a "condition" (I'm not a medical expert BTW), I do fully support the idea of creating lifelong programs to defeat sedentary behavior.  I'd also like to see more focus on the mental health benefits of exercise including: alleviating stress, reducing symptoms of depression and improved self-esteem. We may not be able to eradicate Malaria or Cancer but we sure have the knowledge, tools and resources to eradicate conditions precipitated by lack of exercise!

While the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic physical activity, it doesn't take much to start having a positive impact.  Just  a few 10 minute exercise breaks a day can do wonders to start.

So get up, get moving, do something active!  Encourage your loved ones, friends and co-workers too!   Click here and get yourself and them a membership to CoreFitnessByJana.com to dive in with one of my 15-20 minute fitness videos!  You can do them anytime, anywhere.  There's no excuses to be sedentary, unless you're one of those depressing people who loves to talk about all your medical conditions and now wants to add lack of exercise to the list..