Perhaps it’s time to move away from the remote and log out of Netflix for a few hours: Researchers in Spain have found that binge TV watching is directly linked to an increased risk of death, more so than sitting in a car or working at a computer. The mortality risk was twice as high for those who watched more than three hours of television a day compared with less than one hour a day. The dangers of sitting down for extended periods of time have already been well documented, but the study found that driving a car or using a computer were not nearly as damaging as watching television — the fact that slumping in front of the TV requires so little energy and interaction would seem to be a significant factor.
You might want to think twice about sitting down and watching an entire season of “Game of Thrones” in one afternoon, especially if you make a habit of the couch-potato lifestyle. A study conducted in Spain has reached the conclusion that people who watch over three hours of television each day have a twofold higher risk of mortality compared with people who watch less than an hour each day. The study was published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association. A research team from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, followed 13,284 Spanish university graduates with a mean age of 37 years over a median follow-up time of 8.2 years. The researchers looked at how much time each person spent watching television and adjusted results for age, sex, smoking status, total energy intake, Mediterranean diet adherence, body mass index, and physical activity. “Television viewing was directly associated with all-cause mortality. However, computer use and time spent driving were not significantly associated with higher mortality,” the study reports. The information was gathered through self-administered questionnaires sent every two years by mail.
