An average American adult spends nearly five hours each day watching content on television, as per Nielsen. Most of that TV watching is usually done perched atop a comfy sofa or bed, promoting sedentary behavior.
As per fresh research, if we cut down our TV viewing time by just an hour, it would reduce the chances of developing heart and blood vessel diseases, especially for people living with genetic diabetes risk. This is one of the first studies that links diabetes-associated health risks with sedentary TV watching behavior.
The findings are crucial, especially in the context of local health statistics. One in ten American adults live with diabetes, which translates to over 38 million people in the US. People with diabetes are at a much higher risk of developing heart diseases, which in turn are responsible for the highest number of deaths in the US.
As per the new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the risks of developing heart diseases goes up by 12% if the time spent watching TV climbs up from one hour each day to a couple of hours.
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For people with medium and high Type 2 diabetes genetic risk, spending less than an hour each day glued to a TV did not increase the risks of cardiovascular ailments.
“Type 2 diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle, including prolonged sitting, are major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases,” notes Younwon Kim, lead author of the study and faculty member at The University of Hong Kong in Pokfulam.
This won’t be the first study of its kind that links such activity patterns with health woes. In 2021, the AHA published research that mentioned how the time spent watching TV or working on a computer raises the risk of strokes. The body also linked moderate to high TV watching behavior with development of cognitive problems and elevated chances of dementia.
“Watching TV, which accounts for more than half of daily sedentary behavior, is consistently associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis,” Kim adds. Experts behind the study say the time spent watching TV could be used as a behavioral target for diabetes patients at risk of heart diseases.
The paper notes that sedentary behavior, such as sitting while watching TV, can be used as a potential medical intervention for everyone in general, and not just people at risk for Type 2 diabetes. In an interaction with Digital Trends, experts at the American Heart Association (AHA) also highlighted the role of sedentary behavior in worsening heart health.