With nearly half of Americans spending less than two hours outdoors each week, a California physician warns that indoor living may be fuelling poor sleep, burnout, brain fog and weight gain.
Spending long stretches indoors may be doing more than making people restless. In a Fox News Digital interview, California physician John La Puma argued that modern life inside walls can quietly affect sleep, energy, concentration and metabolism, building what he calls a hidden health burden. His comments were framed by a new national survey from the Nature & Health Alliance, involving researchers at Texas A&M University, which found that nearly half of Americans spend less than two hours outdoors in an entire week.
La Puma, who has written about the issue in “Indoor Epidemic”, says humans now spend about 93% of their lives inside, and that the body pays a price for it. He describes the problem through four linked effects: poor sleep, burnout, brain fog and abdominal weight gain. The idea, he says, is not simply to exercise more, but to get regular exposure to daylight, open space and a broader visual horizon.
Sleep is one of the first areas to suffer. La Puma says bright morning light helps set the body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that tells people when to be alert and when to wind down. He recommends a short spell outside soon after waking, ideally without sunglasses, to help the brain register the start of the day. National health guidance from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also stresses that indoor environments can affect wellbeing, whether through light, air quality or pollutants.
He also links too much indoor time to burnout, saying that screens and scrolling can create what he calls “ultraprocessed time”. In his view, long hours in front of laptops and phones are not restorative in the way a real break outdoors can be. He suggests even brief pauses to look out of a window, arguing that distance vision and exposure to a wider view can ease eye strain, reduce headaches and help people feel less drained. That claim fits with broader public health warnings about sedentary routines, which the Cleveland Clinic says can contribute to aches, pains and chronic disease.
Another concern is brain fog, which La Puma associates with poorly ventilated indoor spaces where carbon dioxide can build up. Research has linked elevated indoor carbon dioxide levels with weaker cognitive performance, and the EPA says indoor pollutants can be several times higher than outdoor levels in some settings. La Puma says stepping outside, even briefly, gives the brain and eyes a reset that indoor rooms often cannot provide.
He also argues that poor light exposure can affect metabolism by disrupting cortisol, the hormone that follows a natural daily rhythm. When that rhythm is thrown off, he says, the body may be more likely to store fat around the middle. His practical answer is modest: he recommends 17 minutes a day of intentional time outdoors in a green or blue space, or, if that is not possible, looking towards a distant horizon or through an open window. In his words, those minutes can become medicine.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
