A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association finds that adults who watch TV three hours or more a day may “double their risk of premature death from any cause.”
That news isn’t good for people who enjoy cozying up with Netflix in the afternoons or evenings and watching a few episodes of Orange is the New Black or any other show they’re trying to catch up on.
“Television viewing is a major sedentary behavior and there is an increasing trend toward all types of sedentary behaviors,” said Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the study’s lead author. “Our findings are consistent with a range of previous studies where time spent watching television was linked to mortality.”
The study was conducted over a median 8.2 years using 13,284 “young and healthy Spanish university graduates.” More details can be read on the American Heart Association’s website.
Those who watched television for three or more hours a day were two times as likely to have an early death compared to those who watched one or less hours.
As always, the report suggests that people need to increase their amount of daily exercise. “As the population ages, sedentary behaviors will become more prevalent, especially watching television, and this poses an additional burden on the increased health problems related to aging,” Martinez-Gonzalez said. “Our findings suggest adults may consider increasing their physical activity, avoid long sedentary periods, and reduce television watching to no longer than one to two hours each day.”
Will this new report change anyone’s habits? Probably not, because at the end of the day there’s nothing better than plopping down on the couch and enjoying a good show, movie, or book.
In the past, there’ve been reports about the dangers of sitting too long and even standing too long. We just can’t win.
But if we were to offer some advice: Entertainment lovers could bring their mobile devices to the gym and work out on cardio machines while they watch their shows. Problem solved!
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