A mental health concern that can debilitate a person’s ability to complete routine daily activities, anxiety can also cause physical complaints ranging from difficulty breathing to irregular heartbeat to headaches and muscle aches. Megan Teychenne, from Deakin University (Australia), and colleagues completed a meta-analysis of published studies involving sedentary behavior and risk of anxiety. Sedentary behaviors – such as watching TV, working at a computer, playing video games – that involve sitting down are associated with an increased risk of anxiety. The study authors submit that: “our findings suggest a positive association (i.e. anxiety risk increases as [sedentary behavior] time increases) may exist (particularly between sitting time and risk of anxiety).”
