Link between TV and disease/early death

It is known that one of America’s favorite pastimes is to sit down on the comfy couch and watch TV. The average American watches TV about five hours a day becoming one of the common activities after work and sleep. Dr. Frank Hu and his research team from Harvard School of Public Health have recently analyzed data from eight large studies that was conducted in the 1970’s. It is a known fact that the link between watching TV and poor health are related, but now Hu’s team were able to quantify how much TV watching can contribute to disease and early death.

HealthLand Magazine reports:

“For every two hours of TV watching, the researchers found, the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 20% over 8.5 years of follow-up, the risk of heart disease rose by 15% over a decade, and the odds of dying from any cause increased 13% during a seven year follow-up.”

 
Dr. Hu further explains that watching an excessive amount of TV is related to decreased physical activity and increased consumption of junk food. These are risk factors towards diabetes and heart disease which are conditions that contribute to early death. Also, physical activity and TV viewing are mutually exclusive which means that those who watch a lot of TV exercise less.

To read more: http://ti.me/kbTkXP

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