Study highlights:
- A study found that every hour spent in front of the television per day brings with it an 11 percent greater risk of premature death from all causes, and an 18 percent greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
- The findings apply to both obese and overweight people as well as people with a healthy weight because prolonged periods of sitting have an unhealthy influence on blood sugar and blood fat levels.
DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2010 — Couch potatoes beware: every hour of television watched per day may increase the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Australian researchers tracked the lifestyle habits of 8,800 adults and found that each hour spent in front of the television daily was associated with:
• an 11 percent increased risk of death from all causes,
• a 9 percent increased risk of cancer death; and
• an 18 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related death.Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily, those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 percent increased risk for CVD-related death. This association held regardless of other independent and common cardiovascular disease risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, unhealthy diet, excessive waist circumference, and leisure-time exercises.
Uh oh, sitting in front of computers probably kills too. We weren't designed for the environment we've created for ourselves with technology.
By Randall Parker at 2010 January 11 11:21 PM Aging Lifestyle StudiesWhile the study focused specifically on television watching, the findings suggest that any prolonged sedentary behavior, such as sitting at a desk or in front of a computer, may pose a risk to one’s health. The human body was designed to move, not sit for extended periods of time, said David Dunstan, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and professor and Head of the Physical Activity Laboratory in the Division of Metabolism and Obesity at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia.
Should have built that stationary bike workstation after all, I guess.
Cause or effect?
How about hours spent curled up with a good book? My guess is they're just as bad, but at least you'd be capable of carrying on a conversation before your untimely demise.
Is this taking into account the relatively new finding that calorie burning/normal metabolism is inhibited when someone is sendentary for a long period of time.
In those latest studies just taking a brief walk to the water cooler every 60 to 90 minutes apparently reversed the effect.
I would think that is probably the culprit in these statistics.
Before I was married - I used to predominantly watch TV while using exercise equipment - so I wonder if those that follow such a routine actually benefit from hours spent in front of the television?
I life weights (body building) 4 day a week (standard two day split) and I swim a kilometer (40 minutes) three times a week. My regimen also consists of Resveratrol (250mg per day), CoQ-10, Carnosine, and Acetyl-l-Carnitine. My regimen is targeted for two bio-engineering principles, one is mimicking caloric restriction (Reveratrol and other things), the other being increase in mitochondrial autophagy (CoQ-10, Acetyl-l-Carnitine). Assuming that SENS come in on time, or even a little delayed, I feel my chances of making it are better than even (in the words of Crocodile Dundee) even though I do spend much of my time in front of the computer and on the phone.
Nonetheless, the human body is not designed for sitting around all day long. We are designed to be on our feet moving about during most of our waking period. It is faily well-known in the scientific community that the more time you spend on your feet walking about, the stronger your bones become. The more active you are (for me, this means going out and seeing customers) the better your health will be. Also, you feel better, emotionally, when you are active.
Study: "Average daily television watching is approximately three hours in Australia and the United Kingdom, and up to eight hours in the United States"
AC Neilson: "the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day "
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/misc/tvturnoff.asp
Bzzzttttttttttttt. Epic Fail.
Part of my time watching tv is during workout, the rest of the time I usually take breaks during commercials and walk a bit and maybe get a small extra cold glass of water.
And sitting in front of computer is different?
Well, sitting in front of a computer with a keyboard and a mouse, I press buttons a lot more often than in front of a tv with a remote.
So one study claims internet use wards off dementia while another says it'll kill you. At the very least it might mean the online trolls will die sooner. Heh
Correlation != Causation.
Serious head injury rates increased after better helmets were issued to US soldiers in Europe. So you can either say "We have to get rid of these, they're causing more harm than good!" or you can say "Look at how many guys would have died if they didn't have the new helmets!" and if you just look at the trend lines without any underlying analysis, you can't tell which is which.
If you looked at my TV watching time v.s. how well I feel, you'd notice a spike on days when I don't feel well. Why? Because I'm too miserable to do other things that require physical or mental exertion. However, after being forced to sit or lay still for long periods of time, otherwise healthy individuals also find that their energy levels have decreased. Now, have these findings been factored into the account that blames TV?
I haven't had broadcast, cable, or satellite for over four years. I'm usually getting all the things done around my property that need doing and that usually involve at least a modicum of exercise.