New TV threat to young adults

Thursday June 26th, 2014

Young adults who spend more than three hours a day in front of the television may double their risk of an untimely death, researchers warned last night.

Sitting in a vehicle driving or in front of a computer for hours at a time were found to have little impact on health - but television watching did, the Spanish researchers reported.

The findings come from a study of some 13,000 university graduates with an average age of 37.

These were tracked for eight years during which 97 died - 46 of them from cancer.

The research, reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that those who watched three hours or more of television a day faced a doubled risk of dying compared with those who watched an hour or less.

Researcher Professor Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, said: "As the population ages, sedentary behaviours will become more prevalent, especially watching television, and this poses an additional burden on the increased health problems related to ageing.

"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."

Watching too much TV may increase risk of early death in adults. JAMA 25 June 2014; doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.000864

Tags: Cancer | Europe | Fitness | Heart Health

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