Pitt Study: More TV Watched, More Likely To Get Injured, Obese

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If you watch a lot of TV, you're more likely to get injured, or become obese according to a new University of Pittsburgh study.

Pitt researchers surveyed television viewing habits and other life factors over the last 20-years and found that those who watch more TV are at a greater risk of injury.

Those who are considered to have a "high-hostility" personality were especially injury prone.

Lead author of the study, Anthony Fabio, told WESA, "People who are a bit more hostile, a bit more up-tight, can react very differently to messages so they're more likely to act without thinking, more likely to act very aggressively, so we think what is going on here is when they see these messages they're affected by them to a stronger degree than other folks."

Fabio is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health.

For 20-years, participants reported their television viewing habits by completing in-depth questionnaires on personality traits.

Researchers also recorded all injuries that required hospitalization.

When researchers analyzed the same data, it showed that people who watched more television in young adulthood (around age 30) had a greater likelihood of being obese.

The study has been published in the journal SAGE Open.

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