Sedentary lifestyle tied to diabetes, heart disease, premature death: Is TV to blame?

Sedentary lifestyles lead to major health risks, according to a new study

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(CBS) Looking for an easy way to save yourself from diabetes, heart disease, or even an early death?

Turn off the television.

That's the implication of a not-exactly-earth-shaking new study by Harvard researchers, who looked at the health of TV junkies from 1970 to 2011 and found some pretty major health risks.

"The message is simple," study author Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard's School of Public Health, said in a written statement. "Cutting back on TV watching can significantly reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and premature mortality."

Wait, too much TV time is bad for you? Somebody stop the presses. But while previous studies have linked TV viewing to high blood pressuer and obesity, this study actually puts a number on how much TV viewing it takes to suffer health consequences.

Want the specifics? Watching TV for  two hours a day ups the risk for  type 2 diabetes by 20 percent and cardiovascular disease by 15 percent, the study showed. More than three hours of daily viewing and you're upping your risk of dying from any disease.

But let's be real - who watches TV for only two hours a day?

On average, Europeans spend 40 percent of their free time watching TV, while Australians spend 50 percent - three to four hours a day.

But Americans always seem to strive to be tops, and here is no exception. We average five hours of TV time every day, according to the study, which was published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Just what should you do in light of the finding? As Dr. Hu told HealthDay, "Those who watch a lot of TV should cut back on TV watching and do more of something else."

Time to put down the remote and go for a walk?

[JSC22]

This is a huge reason I don't believe the "no time to exercise" excuse. Being healthy is about being more active not necessarily spending 60 mins beating yourself up on a treadmill. Next time you are watching TV, march in place during commericals, dance around to the open credits, do 20 jumping jacks every few mins. Get moving! It will do wonders to your outlook on life in general. http://blog.mydiscoverhealth.com/

[mariabryan17]

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[bbattz]

"But Americans always seem to strive to be tops, and here is no exception. We average five hours of TV time every day, according to the study, which was published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association." AMERICA, Yeah!

HAHA. So what about sitting in front of a computer all day? Does this include playing videogames? What about reading? I have seen a study about the risks of sitting too much. That's basically what i am getting at. Or are there links between TV watchers and other habits that cause these diseases. Like a reader may not eat fried-food snacks?

[displeased2]

Watching TV is extremely lazy. I've read you burn more calories sleeping than watching TV. I've also read about a study that was done in Spain that claimed watching TV was the worst sedentary activity. They monitored children during five hours of inactive projects, including reading, playing video games, working on the computer, and watching TV. The children's blood pressure was highest while watching TV.

I can't believe people watch an average of five hours of TV a day. What a waste of life!

[bbattz]

Unless it is Sunday night programming on HBO. I'll easily sit for three hours.