Couch potatoes, listen up! Slouching isn’t as bad for you as you thought

Experts suggest sitting upright can be worse for back than we realised

Slouching isn't as bad for you as you have been told, an expert has claimed.

Years of slating bad postures as being detrimental to our health is 'wrong' according to Jack Chew of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, reported Daily Mail. In fact, slouching is recommended as forcing yourself to sit upright at all times may wreak havoc.

But due to the financial opportunity it provides firms based around trendy wellness techniques, slouching is dubbed as awful. Such fears have sparked an entire industry, promising to kick people into shape by realigning them.

Mr Chew said, 'The assumption that we all need to be perfectly aligned is just wrong. Nothing about our bodies is entirely symmetrical. Our organs aren't positioned symmetrically; we each have a dominant side.'

His claims challenge a body of evidence that states slouching is the root cause of many ailments. “Slouching is sold as the key cause of so many ailments, yet remains just one of many potential factors. We need to get away from this idea that bad posture is the single cause because that is never the case.”

Substantial links to bad backs, which affects four in five people at some point in their lifetime, have also been reported. Often adults desperate to avoid a bad back seek innovative ways to prevent it.

Mr Chew's claims good posture could be used to treat depression too. In January, the team discovered sitting upright can make people feel more proud after a success and more confident in their thoughts.

Research in 2012 made a link between people who walk with a bad posture and the risk of being depressed. A study from San Francisco State University found slouching can lead to decreased energy and feelings of depression.

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