Too much TV ups death risk
People who are used to watching TV for a long time are at a greater risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and death, a new study suggests.
The alarming finding is resulted from a review of eight large studies that involved 175,000 US people.
The results showed that every additional two hours people spend watching TV increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 20 percent and heart disease by 15 percent, on average, said researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Moreover, every additional three hours of spending time in front of the tube increases the risk of having a premature death by 13 percent, the scientists wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to the estimates, US residents spend an average of 5 hours a day watching television, while Australians and some Europeans glue themselves to the box for 3.5 to 4 hours each day, the researchers warned.
"It’s true that people who watch a lot of TV differ from those who watch less, especially in terms of diet and physical activity levels," said the lead scientists Frank Hu.
"The combination of a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and obesity creates a ’perfect breeding ground’ for type 2 diabetes and heart disease," he added, warning that TV watchers not only exercise less, but also are follow an unhealthy diet.
"The message is simple. Cutting back on TV watching is an important way to reduce sedentary behaviors and decrease risk of diabetes and heart disease," he added.
Source: presstv.ir
