Sedentary citizenship versus active citizenship. A new social canon in access to health and welfare

The article addresses a thorny issue in our time, sedentarism. Concern over sedentarism pervades current medical discourse as well as public opinion. However, this article does not enter into debate or discuss solutions. Instead, it offers a different perspective on an issue that has been largely defined by the medical profession. Physical activity and sports are a source of health; biological and epidemiological studies have demonstrated this. But health is not merely the absence of disease or the biophysical state of the individual. Culture and living conditions contribute to it. Well-being is also a reflection of elements of a social and not just biological nature. Thus, the study of health and well-being must not ignore the value of the social sciences. Here we analyze the extent to which our lifestyles (active or sedentary) are determinants of our health and subjective well-being. The results provide a reflection on the cost of our lifestyles, not only in regard to our own health and well-being, but also regarding the health system itself. Hence, our diagnosis is based on the idea that, as with health and well-being, our lifestyles depend on cultural prescriptions and not merely medical ones.