Prolonged TV Watching Increases Obesity and Diabetes
Risk
Each two hours a day increment of TV watching was
linked with a 23 per cent increase in obesity, and
14 per cent increase in diabetes.
Of all sedentary activities, TV watching for
many hours a week is especially associated
with health
risks.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health
now bring a new report from the long-running
Nurses' Health Study. The current study began
in 1992 and
looks at the link between various sedentary behaviors,
including watching TV, and obesity and type 2
diabetes. It's interesting because most advice
on fitness
concentrates on increasing physical activity,
rather than reducing
inactivity.
They found that each two hours a day increment
of TV watching was linked with a 23 per cent
increase in obesity, and 14 per cent increase
in diabetes.
By contrast, sitting at work, or driving, were
linked
with a five per cent increase in obesity and
a seven per cent increase in diabetes.
However, standing or walking around, again
for an extra two hours a day, were both linked
to
a nine
per cent reduction in obesity and a 12 per
cent reduction in diabetes. Each hour a day
of brisk
walking reduced
obesity by 24 per cent and diabetes by 34
per cent.
There are three reasons why prolonged TV
watching is so bad for you. First, each
hour in front
of the TV is an hour less being physically
active. Second,
people tend to eat more while they're watching
TV. And finally, people who spend time
watching TV seem
to have unhealthy diets - perhaps succumbing
to
ads and cues for snacks and foods that
are high in fat,
sugar and salt.
Of course, no-one's saying you should give
up your favorite programs for the sake
of your health!
But previous research has suggested that
an adult male
in the US watches 29 hours a week of TV,
and a
female 34 hours - that's more than a full
day a week spent
in viewing. Maybe some of this time would
be better spent in a more varied routine?
Journal
of the
American Medical Association 9th April
2003
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DID
YOU KNOW: A middle-aged man with a “beerbelly,” unhealthy
cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and elevated
blood glucose is 3 times more likely to die from
cardiovascular problems and twice as likely to die
from other causes as a man who doesn’t have
this metabolic syndrome. JAMA, Dec 4, 2002
