Is Watching TV Bad For Your Health?

How much TV do you watch in a typical day? According to some studies, the average American watches more than five hours of programming per day. That translates into thirty-five plus hours per week! While there's nothing wrong with watching an episode or two of your favorite show, experts have cautioned against the health hazards associated with prolonged TV watching.

A new study has found that people who remain sedentary for long periods at a time have a higher risk of death attributed to many of the leading causes of death. We've known about the dangers of leading a sedentary lifestyle for quite some time. In fact, we've even blogged about here on the SafetyCompany blog. However, this is one of the first studies that specifically involved TV watching.

A recent study has confirmed that long, sedentary hours does result in higher risk of death from many of the leading causes of death. More specifically, the study warns that people watch too much television (because this involves sitting in the same place for many hours a day).

For the study, researchers from the National Cancer Institute analyzed more than 221,000 men and women over the course of 16 years, paying close attention to their TV viewing habits, and the results were downright shocking. Researchers discovered that participants who watched at least seven hours of TV each day had a 47% greater risk of death associated with one of the eight leading causes of death (e.g. heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, influenza, Parkinson's disease, liver disease, and suicide). 

I know what you're probably thinking: what if I only watch a couple hour of TV per day? Although the impact isn't as severe, even just a couple hours of TV can take a toll on your health. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute found that watching just three to four hours of programming per day resulted in a 15% greater risk of death when compared to participants who had watched just a single hour of programming.

“We know that television viewing is the most prevalent leisure-time sedentary behavior and our working hypothesis is that it is an indicator of overall physical inactivity,” explains lead study author Dr. Sarah Keadle, of the National Cancer Institute. “In this context, our results fit within a growing body of research indicating that too much sitting can have many different adverse health effects."