TV viewing can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and premature death.

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And Now... Death By TV! Conclusion
"Sedentary lifestyle, especially prolonged TV watching, is clearly an important and modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While the associations between time spent viewing TV and risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease were linear, the risk of all-cause mortality appeared to increase with TV viewing duration of greater than 3 hours per day," the study said.

Many people around the world have a routine of sleeping, working and watching TV. Eg Europeans and Australians are said to spend 40% and 50% respectively of their free time in front of the TV. This amounts to about 3-4 hours as compared to Americans who spend an average of 5 hours in front of the TV.

Medical experts have long been emphasising the need for increased physical activity not only for treatment of diseases but also for prevention of several lifestyle disorders. While this study focussed only on TV, gaming devices, long hours in front of computer screens are also responsible for increased sedentary behaviour amongst adults and children.

Instead, get up, get in your hour’s sweaty exercise, eat healthy and then you truly deserve to relax and chill in front of the telly, without the guilt.

By Poonam Vaswani
Senior Dietitian, www.NutritionVista.com

References:

NutritionVista

User Comments

02 September, 2011 | Prathima | Reply

Maybe one can at least work on their treadmill, stationary bike or engage in any physical activity while watching TV research has shown that prolonged periods of inactivity can affect the body's processing of fats and other substances that contribute to heart risk. Such risks according to them can be mitigated by simply avoiding being a couch potato -sitting for extended periods of time.

13 July, 2011 | Vijayalakshmi Iyengar | Reply

Its been noticed that both kids and teens (8 -18 years) spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games.The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.
The first 2 years of life are critical for brain development. TV and electronic media interferes with exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development. This continues through out even as they get older and physical activity apart from other activities like School work and social activity is neglected.
No doubt TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer but too much television can be detrimental.
So as Sangeetha has suggested solutions are available but we need to make a conscious attempt to seek it.

13 July, 2011 | Vijayalakshmi Iyengar | Reply

TV viewing is very strongly associated with unhealthy eating -higher intake of fried foods, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages but more importantly lower intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in both children and adults. So with bad eating habits and sedentary activity of TV viewing, we should expect increased health challenges.
Cutting off TV viewing time is the first step.

29 June, 2011 | Sangeetha Narayana Swamy | Reply

Children, young women and men, seniors - be it anybody, all of us have to be active, exercise at least 4-5 times per week, eat a balanced and healthy meal - this is the mantra for a healthy lifestyle.

Make the physical activity a fun and family affair once or twice a week, so that you look forward to it every week. The other days do a activity that you enjoy the most like swimming, tennis, squash, golf, long walks in the park, biking etc.

Let the children get out of the house and play in the park or activity place with other kids. Encourage them to take up sports and volunteer services in the community centers and worship places. This will automatically reduce the number of hours they spend in front of the box.

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And Now… Death By TV!

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