New Study Says Watching TV Can Kill You!

For a long time people have been telling us that TV rots your brain. Now, new research says it can kill you, too! Long hours of sedentary inactivity spent watching TV has been linked to obesity and heart disease for some time, but new research has quantified the the connection between inactivity and increased health risk.

Researchers found that for every hour per day you spend sitting on your duff watching TV:

• You have an 18% greater risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.
• You have an 11% greater risk of dying from any cause.
• You have a 9% greater risk of dying from cancer.

Part of an Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, the study findings were published this week in the Circulation Journal of the American Heart Association. The study tracked 8,800 men and women aged 25 and older over 6 years and did not include people who already had a history of cardiovascular disease.

While the results of the study might be expected for people who are overweight or obese, what surprised researchers is that results held true even for people of normal weight and those who exercised regularly. And even if you don't spend that much time in front of the boob tube, you run the same risks if you spend hours on the job sitting in front of a computer or processing paperwork or doing anything. Apparently our bodies weren't made to sit for hours on end.

The lesson here seems to be, if you want to live longer, get off your duff and get moving!