foodconsumer.org: Watching too much TV raises death risk

Watching too much TV raises death risk
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admin on 07/25/2010 22:08:00
 
A new study suggests that it does not matter how long you engage in physical
activity  or exercise, sitting too long in your leisure time could increase the
risk of death from all causes, particularly cardiovascular deaths.
The study led by Dr. Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer
Society and colleagues showed that both men and women who sit for a longer time
daily were at a higher risk of dying from all causes.
The study published online July 22 in the American Journal of Epidemiology is
not a trial and the findings do not mean that if an individual who reduces his
leisure time spent sitting would definitely cut his risk of death.
The findings are similar to what Australian researchers reported recently.
Dunstan D.W. and colleagues from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute reported
a study in the Jan 2010 issue of Circulation saying that the time spent watching
TV, which is the predominant leisure-time sedentary behaviour, was associated
with risk of all-cause and cardiovascular deaths.
The researchers followed 8800 adults aged 25 or older participating in the
Australian Diabetes, Obesity, Lifestyle Study for on average 6.6 years during
which 284 deaths from cardiovascular events and 125 deaths from cancer were
recorded.
After adjusting for age, gender, waist circumference and exercise, the
researchers found each one-hour increment in television viewing time per day
were associated with an 11 percent increased risk for all-cause mortality, an 18
percent increased risk for cardiovascular death and a 9 percent increased risk
for cancer death.
Compared to those who spent fewer than 2 hours per day watching TV, those who
spent anywhere between 2 and 4 hours or more than 4 hours a day were at 13
percent or 46 percent increased risk for all-cause death respectively.  The
increase in the cardiovascular death was 18 and 80 percent respectively.
But the researchers found no significant association between watching Tv and
risk for both cancer death and non-CVD or noncancer death.
By David Liu