Watching less TV can reduce heart disease risk, research suggests

BOSTON - A new study finds that if we could limit our daily television viewing, we could reduce our risk of heart disease.

We know that being sedentary, spending long periods of time sitting rather than moving around, can increase our risk of heart disease. Researchers at the University of Cambridge examined data on half a million people in the United Kingdom, looking at their sedentary screen use, their DNA, and their risk of coronary disease.

They found that people who watched more than four hours of TV a day were at the greatest risk of developing heart disease while those who watched less than an hour of TV a day had a 16-percent lower rate. Interestingly, time spent using a computer did not appear to influence heart disease risk.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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