Smartphones have made UK one of the laziest countries in Europe
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The increase in the laziness is being considered as dangerous as the inactivity usually leads to deadly long-term diseases such as type-2 diabetes and cancer
Smartphones have our life easier and faster, but some researchers have concluded that the invention has also brought extreme laziness in humans, especially I one of the countries.
Researchers have warned that laziness in the residents of the United Kingdom due to smartphones is alarmingly more than in any other major western European country.
The study was conducted for the period from 2007 to 2017, and interestingly the first iPhone was launched in Europe in 2007. Since then, there has been an alarming increase of 22 per cent in the levels of sedentary behaviour among adults in the UK, in a period of 10 years.
The increase has majorly been due to the change in lifestyle of adults between the age range of 35 to 44. People in this age, who earlier used to move around and indulge in various activities, have now started spending their leisure time on their smartphones.
Europe, as a whole, saw an increase of about 8 per cent, with France following the UK at 17.8 per cent, followed by a 7.4 per cent increase in Germany, 3.9 per cent in Spain, and just 0.2 per cent in Italy. Adults in these countries spend more than four hours sitting down using their smartphones.
The increase in the laziness is being considered as dangerous as the inactivity usually leads to deadly long-term diseases such as type-2 diabetes and cancer. It has also been revealed that nearly 12 per cent (or 70,000 deaths) in the UK are caused due to inactivity.
The researchers are urging the respective government to encourage citizens to give up the temptation of sitting down and indulge in physical and healthy activities, other than gym trips.
The researchers feel this increase is majorly due to the advancement in technology, such as streaming platforms. Professor Xián Mayo Mauriz, who took part in the research at the King Juan Carlos University in Spain, said: "We propose that the observed increase in the prevalence of physical inactivity could be attributed to people increasingly interacting with technology such as smartphones and streaming services during work and leisure time.
“Our findings suggest that in addition to encouraging physical activity, governments should focus on reducing the amount of time people spend sitting per day."
The research was published in the journal BCM Public Health.
Another independent study in the UK last year had found out that people, on an average, spend nearly four hours every day on their phones, out of which nearly one hour is spent on social media.
