Ashadh Shuklapaksha 5, Kaliyug Varsha 5116
Sitting around watching television for three or more hours a day doubles the risk of an early death, even for young people, a study of more than 13,000 people has found.
Watching three hours of more television each day may double the risk of early death compared with people who watch one or less – even if you are young and healthy, a study suggests.
Researchers followed more than 13,000 university graduates for an average of 8.2 years and discovered that those who spent hours glued to the box were more likely to die young.
Even when the academics accounted for other lifestyle factors, watching television still increased the chance of dying prematurely two-fold.
Nearly half of the deaths were caused by cancer (44 per cent) while nearly one fifth were as a result of heart problems.
However researchers found no significant association between the time spent using a computer or driving and higher risk of premature death from all causes.
“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,” said lead researcher Prof Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.
“Television viewing is a major sedentary behaviour and there is an increasing trend toward all types of sedentary behaviours.
“As the population ages, sedentary behaviours will become more prevalent, especially watching television, and this poses an additional burden on the increased health problems related to ageing,”
Earlier this year a report warned that Britain's couch potato lifestyle means that by 2030, the average person will use just 25 per cent more energy than if they had stayed in bed all day.
Public health experts believe that sedentary habits in this country are responsible for 17 per cent of premature deaths, with an impact on health that costs the economy more than £8bn a year.
Local authority data found that in some parts of the country, four in ten people are taking less than half an hour’s exercise a month. Manchester fared worst, followed by Sandwell, West Midlands, Salford, Greater Manchester and Bradford, in West Yorkshire.
Even in the fittest areas – Wokingham in Berkshire, and the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames – one in five person did not manage 30 minutes of activity .
Overall one in four adults – 12.5 million people – was classed as inactive – meaning that they had not done at least thirty minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, according to the analysis by UK Active.
Such lifestyles shorten life expectancy by an average of five years, experts said.
The latest research assessed 13,284 young and healthy Spanish university graduates of an average age of 37, to determine the association between three types of sedentary behaviours, television viewing time, computer time and driving time and the risk of death from all causes:
The participants were followed for a median 8.2 years. Researchers reported 97 deaths, with 19 deaths from cardiovascular causes, 46 from cancer and 32 from other causes.
The risk of death was twofold higher for participants who reported watching three or more hours of TV a day compared to those watching one or less hours.
Researchers said further studies are needed to confirm what effects may exist between computer use and driving on death rates, and to determine the biological mechanisms explaining these associations.
The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. You should also do moderate- to high-intensity muscle strengthening at least two days a week.
The research was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Source : Telegraph
