Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Study: Too much TV associated with shorter lifespan

People who watch an average of six hours a day of television live an average of almost five years less than people who do not watch any TV, research from Australia has found, USA Today reported.

For every hour of TV watched after age 25, lifespan fell by 22 minutes, according to the study by Dr. J. Lennert Veerman of the University of Queensland. However, the TV watching itself isn't what leads to a shorter life; rather, longer time spent watching television is associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, such as eating poorly and less time spent exercising, other experts pointed out.

The report was published yesterday online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Researchers used data on 11,000 people ages 25 and up from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, which included information about how much TV people in the study watched weekly.

Last year, another study, also out of Australia, found that watching television for an hour each day led to an 8 percent increase in the risk of early death, MediaGuardian reported.

Image: stevetaylor.fivefour's flickr photostream

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