17th August, 2011
A new study has shown that ardent television watchers have a shortened lifespan.
Researchers from Australia, who published their findings in the 15 August edition of British Journal of Sports Medicine as well as HealthDay.com, discovered that people who watch approximately six hours of Television a day live about five years less than those who don’t watch any Television.
The researchers from the University of Queensland said after the age of 25, the lifespan of an individual shortens by 22 minutes every one hour he spends watching the television.
According to Dr. David L. Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Centre at Yale University School of Medicine, who confirmed the authenticity of the report, “as a rule, the more time we spend watching TV, the more time we spend eating mindlessly in front of the TV, and the less time we spend being physically active.
“More eating and less physical activity, in turn, mean greater risk for obesity, and the chronic diseases it tends to anticipate notably diabetes, heart disease and cancer.â€
Katz added that another reason for the shortened lifespan may be connected to the fact that people who watch more TV than others tend to be more depressed or lonely.
—Eromosele Ebhomele