Watching TV for Extended Periods Increases Risk of Mortality

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that watching television for extended periods could increase the risk of early mortality. Frequent time spent in front of a screen fosters sedentary behavior, which can increase the risk of other health issues.  

For the study, researchers assessed 13,284 healthy Spanish students, all around the age of 37 and predominantly women. They measured the time participants spent watching television, using the computer and driving for about eight years. As a result, they discovered 97 deaths: 19 from heart disease, 46 from cancer and 32 from other health complications.

Researchers discovered that regular TV watchers of up to three hours per day or more could actually double their risk of premature death compared to those who watched less television or none at all. However, other time spent without moving--including time sitting in front of a computer or driving--also increased the risk of premature death due to sedentary behavior.

"Television viewing is a major sedentary behavior and there is an increasing trend toward all types of sedentary behaviors," said Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the study's lead author and professor and chair of the Department of Public Health at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, in a news release. "Our findings are consistent with a range of previous studies where time spent watching television was linked to mortality."

"As the population ages, sedentary behaviors will become more prevalent, especially watching television, and this poses an additional burden on the increased health problems related to aging," Martinez-Gonzalez concluded . "Our findings suggest adults may consider increasing their physical activity, avoid long sedentary periods, and reduce television watching to no longer than one to two hours each day."