Watching TV ‘as hazardous as smoking’

Researchers in Australia say people who watch too much TV and do not move around enough could shorten their lives by almost five years.

The study, based on a sample of 11,000 adults, calculated that every hour of television watched after the age of 25 shortens the lifespan by an average of almost 22 minutes. Scientists used previously published data on the relationship between TV viewing time and lifespan from analysis of the 2008 figures from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, as well as the Australian national population and mortality figures.

The authors constructed a risk framework based on a survey in which participants revealed the total amount of time they had spent in the previous week watching television or videos.

Professor Mark Batt, president of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine in Edinburgh, said: “What this is telling us is that people who have a sedentary lifestyle do not do well.

“What they have done is look at the pastime of watching television and relate that to the risk of a shorter life. It is very significant, because it shows a sedentary lifestyle can be as much of a risk as smoking.”

Researchers worked out that Australians aged 25 and over watched 9.8 billion hours of TV, which led them to calculate that every single hour watched after the age of 25 shortened life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes.

Based on these figures, and looking at expected deaths from all causes, they said an individual who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching television can expect to live just under five fewer years than someone who does not watch TV.

The findings suggest watching too much TV may be as dangerous as smoking – which is said to shorten life by an average of four years, with an average of 11 minutes lost to every cigarette.

Prof Batt said the research posed a challenge to uncover the reason why people were moving about less and to find ways of encouraging them to change their habits and become more active.

“Governments need to work out what it is that people used to do that they are not doing any more,” he said. “If people are not cycling to work, we need to look at things like cycle lanes.

“There are complex societal issues that underlie this type of research. This is significant given they are saying that being sedentary is as much of a risk to your health as smoking.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Increasing levels of participation in sports and physical activity is a top priority for the Scottish Government. That is why we are investing in sporting facilities through our community sports hubs initiative and promoting the role of sport in our schools as part of the curriculum as well as the active schools programme.”