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Heart Disease- Watching TV Increases Risk

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The Medical Research Council in Britain has recently released some surprising results on studies linking heart disease to watching television. Of course, no-one is surprised to learn that the lack of activity caused by watching television is detrimental to your health, but there was a proven link even when obesity, diet, smoking and lack of exercise were taken into account. The timing of the release of this report is particularly ill-timed as football-mad Brits are watching more TV than ever during the four weeks of the World Cup football matches!

The research studied more than 13,000 healthy middle-aged men and women over a ten-year period. During that time one in every 35 of the test group died from heart disease. A direct link was found which showed that every extra hour of television that was watched per day increased the risk of dying from heart disease by 7%. This meant that the act of watching TV was independently linked to heart disease over and above being inactive whilst watching a favorite TV show. For example, in the test group it was found that 30 of the deaths could have been prevented had the average person watched three hours of television per day instead of four hours, which is the national average in the U.S..

The reason for the increased heart disease was given by Dr Katrien Wijndaele as being due to our bodies not being designed to sit for long periods. Prolonged inactivity is known to raise blood sugar and cholesterol levels and watching TV is one of the main culprits for causing a more sedentary lifestyle and weight gain. Further research is now being recommended to see whether other sedentary occupations such as using a computer or driving a car produce the same results. Although some activities in our lifestyle cannot be adapted, the numbers of hours we watch TV can certainly be modified as a positive health move. The study, published by the International Journal of Epidemiology, suggests that in the future doctors may include statistics on the number of hours patients watch TV as a part of the assessment for the overall risk of a patient developing heart disease.

Other ways to counter health problems caused by watching TV should include avoiding snacking on unhealthy foods whilst being inactive, committing to 30 minutes of physical activity five times a week and substituting a brisk walk for sitting down in front of the television.