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      Consequences of a sedentary lifestyle

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can identify the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle and explain how obesity affects physical, emotional and social health.

      Key learning points

      1. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to weight gain, obesity and related health issues like heart disease and diabetes.
      2. Poor sleep, low self-esteem, and lethargy are common consequences of inactivity.
      3. Obesity negatively impacts physical performance by limiting stamina, flexibility, agility and speed/power.
      4. Physically, obesity increases the risk of conditions such as cancer, heart disease and high cholesterol.
      5. Mentally and socially, obesity can cause depression, loss of confidence, and social isolation.

      Keywords

      • Sedentary lifestyle - a lifestyle with irregular or no physical activity

      • Obesity - people with large fat content, a body mass index (BMI) of over 30 or over 20% weight for height ratio

      • Health - a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

      • Body mass index - a measure that uses your height and weight to calculate whether your weight is deemed healthy

      • Body composition - the percentage of body weight which is fat and nonfat (muscle and bone)

      Common misconception

      Believing that a sedentary lifestyle only affects physical health through weight gain.

      A sedentary lifestyle can have a negative impact on social and emotional health too.

      Teacher tip

      Students may be asked to respond to data around health, fitness and well-being which could include interpretting data tables or graphs.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      health is when basic human needs are being met (food, shelter and clothing) and the individual has friendship and support, as well as some value in society.

      physical
      emotional
      Correct answer: social
      fitness

      Q2.
      Fitness is your ability to meet the physical demands placed on you by the ...

      Correct Answer: environment

      Q3.
      Match the benefit to the type of health or fitness.

      Correct Answer:physical health,decreased risk of health issues such as heart disease
      Correct Answer:emotional health,stress relief
      Correct Answer:social health,improved friendships
      Correct Answer:fitness,improved flexibility

      Q4.
      Identify which body shape is obese.

      An image in a quiz
      A
      B
      Correct answer: C
      They are all obese.
      None of them are obese.

      Q5.
      How might a person become obese?

      doing too much exercise
      Correct answer: having a sedentary lifestyle
      smoking
      Correct answer: eating an unhealthy diet

      Q6.
      People with a sedentary lifestyle are likely to do how much exercise per day?

      Correct answer: little or none
      at least one hour
      at least 2 hours
      at least three hours

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      A sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle that has or no physical activity.

      Correct Answer: irregular, little

      Q2.
      Match the impact of a sedentary lifestyle to the type of health it relates to.

      Correct Answer:physical health,increased blood pressure
      Correct Answer:emotional health,increased risk of depression
      Correct Answer:social health,more likely to socialise online

      Q3.
      Obesity includes people with a body mass index (BMI) of over ...

      Correct answer: 30.
      40.
      50.
      60.
      70.

      Q4.
      Rach is a person with obesity. She has recently started long distance swimming. How could obesity negatively affect her performance specifically for long distance swimming?

      Correct answer: limits cardiovascular endurance
      limits flexibility
      limits agility
      limits power

      Q5.
      Match the correct definition to the key term.

      Correct Answer:obese,people with a large fat content, a body mass index (BMI) of over 30
      Correct Answer:overweight,heavier than optimum weight and may be in the form of muscle mass
      Correct Answer:overfat,when an individual has an abnormally large percentage of body fat

      Q6.
      Correctly order the parts of the sentence to explain why increased blood pressure is a impact of obesity.

      1 - The heart has to pump blood carrying...
      2 - ...oxygen around the body...
      3 - ... however for a person with....
      4 - ...obesity, the heart has to work harder...
      5 - ... to get blood around a ...
      6 - ...bigger body and therefore this...
      7 - ... increases blood pressure.

      To help you plan your 11 physical education lesson on: Consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...