TV shortens life by 22 minutes per viewing hour, says study

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(CBS) "Turn off that TV - it will rot your brain."

A new study suggests that mom's warning might not go far enough. It showed that too much television could make a person die sooner.

Pictures: 20 most sedentary cities in America

Researchers from the University of Queensland, Australia say every hour of TV watching after age 25 cuts almost 22 minutes off the viewer's lifespan.

For the study - published in the August 15 issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine - researchers looked at TV viewing habits of 11,000 Aussies from the decade-long Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle survey. Compared with adults who watch no TV, Australians who spend a lifetime average of 6 hours per day in front of the tube "can expect to live 4.8 years less," the authors wrote.

The study's author says watching television is as unhealthy as smoking or being obese.

"While smoking rates are declining, watching TV is not, which has implications at a population level," Dr Lennert Veerman, professor from the school of population health at the university, told The Guardian.

What exactly about television watching shortens lifespan?

It's hard to pinpoint a direct cause. "The more time we spend watching TV, the more time we spend eating mindlessly in front of the TV, and the less time we spend being physically active," Dr. David L. Katz, founding director of the prevention research center at Yale University School of Medicine, told HealthDay. That in turn "means greater risk for obesity, and the chronic diseases it tends to anticipate, notably diabetes, heart disease and cancer."

This isn't the first time experts have pointed the finger at TV for contributing to health woes. CBS News reported a Harvard study of TV junkies showed two hours per day of tube time ups risks for developing type 2 diabetes by 20 percent and heart disease by 15 percent. More than three hours of daily viewing increased death risk across all diseases.

Wouldn't it be great if you could extend your lifestyle by just pushing a button? You might want to start with the one in the top right corner of your TV remote.

21 Photos

20 most sedentary cities in America

[margroks]

I think this is nonsense and it sounds like the study is flawed. How could you possibly determine this? You cannot possibly know when the people in the study are going to die as opposed to how long they should have lived if they didn't watch TV. When people start whining about TV it's an excuse to blame all of society's ills on something instead of blaming the real cause. I've seen a human being walk on another world and that is a wonderful thing so no, TV is not the big bad people try to make it out to be.

The truth is people should do other things like eat healthy and excercise but if they don't it's THEIR problem so stop trying to blame TV and put the blame on the individual where it belongs.

[rf35]

How about we pass a law to mandate that all TVs be powered by exercise bikes or treadmills? Force people to exercise while they watch TV.

[Bojax39]

Let's see.... every TV hour takes off 22 minutes. Every cigarette takes off 7 minutes. Every drink kills thousands of brain cells. Then my 90 year old neighbor should have been stupid as well as dead about 130 years back. :-)

Seriously, just a little bit of exercise and moderation can do wonders in reversing or preventing some of the effects of all these things scientists say are killing us.

I mean we're not getting out of this world alive anyway, but isn't it better to postpone the inevitable so long as you can be healthy enough to enjoy life while you're doing it?

[rf35]

If one so concerned about extending his/her life, one has to cut out all the things that make it enjoyable!

[livingtxlife]

How ridiculous -- by their account, reading a book will do the same!