The Squatting Position - Are You Able To Do It?

Although the squatting position is a basic and natural human posture, those who live in Westernised countries have little or no opportunity to squat in their daily lives.

As a result, many find squatting to be a difficult and foreign posture when they reach adulthood.

This inability or difficulty of Westerners to assume the squatting posture has become a defining characteristic of Westerners.

As many as one in three adult Westerners may be affected. For instance, in a well-known Australian study on the connection between toileting posture and urinary incontinence, researchers found that one third of women volunteers could not squat for more than thirty seconds before falling backwards.

In contrast to Westerners, the majority of men, women and children in Asia, Africa, Middle East and developing world have no problems with the natural squatting position.

This is not surprising; in these cultures, squatting is required for many daily activities, eg: washing clothes, cooking, talking with children, reaching out for things in lower cupboards. And, of course, when using traditional squat toilets.

The Ability Or Inability To Squat - Does It Really Matter?

The ability to squat is important because it is intended that human beings evacuate waste in the squatting position. The Western habit of sitting is actually a recent development which began about 150 years ago, during the Industrial Revolution, when sitting-type toilets were introduced to the masses.

Steven Arnott, in his book Wash Your Hands! (Prion Books, 2001), explained why squatting is better than sitting in such a simple manner that even a young child can understand:

"Squatting... spreads the buttocks to reveal the anus, whereas sitting can do the opposite."

Sitting toilets can actually do much more harm that just keeping the anus "closed". The long-term use of sitting toilets for waste evacuation is detrimental to one's health.

What many may not be aware is that in the sitting position, there is a natural kink between the rectum and anus. One has to strain and bear downwards in an attempt to force a turd around the bend.

It is this straining and 'pushing downwards' with the diaphragm while holding the breath that are the root causes of many serious colon, bladder, prostate, pelvic-related ailments and diseases.

The men who invented the 'more civilised' sitting toilet did not understand how the human body works, the natural requirements of waste elimination or its serious impact on the health of users.

The truth is that squatting is the best toileting posture as it aligns and straightens the rectum and anus, resulting in quicker, easier and more complete evacuation.

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