Is TV Bad For You?

The title of a new study says it all; Causes of Death Associated With Prolonged TV Viewing: NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

The study looked at over 200,000 individuals and found there is a link with “prolonged TV viewing to eight of the leading causes of death in the United States.”

Is TV bad for you? Apparently yes. There is a direct link between TV viewing and poorer health.

US Television Viewing Habits

Before looking at the study, it’s important to look at how much TV we actually watch in the United States.

92% of Americans have a television at home. Watching TV consumes more than half of American’s available leisure time.

On average, 80% of Americans watch 3.5 hours of TV a day. Think about that, that’s more than 52 non-stop days of watching TV a year.

And it’s not just TV. The average American watches 55 minutes of programming on their PCs or mobile devices per day.

As you get older, the amount of TV you watch increases. Americans in their retirement years spend twice as much time per day watching TV as younger citizens do.

Overall, we dedicate nearly 20% of our waking hours to the television, far more than any other single activity except work.

Television Viewing and Link to Health Risks

The link between TV viewing and bad health isn’t anything new. Previous studies had reported a relationship between TV viewing and elevated risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

In this study, researchers at the National Cancer Institute looked at more than 221,000 individuals aged 50-71 years old who were free of chronic disease when the began the study.

The study found a direct connection between the amount of TV people view and higher mortality risk from cancer and heart disease.

That’s not all, the study found TV increases your health risk for some of the other leading causes of death in the United States; diabetes, influenza/pneumonia, Parkinson’s disease, and liver disease for example.

Individuals who watch 3-4 hours of TV per day were 15% more likely to die from any cause. Those who watched 7 or more hours were 47% more likely to die over the study period.

Risk began to increase at 3-4 hours per day for most causes the study examined. The investigators took a number of other factors into consideration that might explain the associations observed, such as caloric and alcohol intake, smoking, and the health status of the population, but when they controlled for these factors in statistical models, the associations remained.

Below is a chart which shows the link between TV viewing and the percentage rise in certain health issues for every 2 hours of TV viewing.

I find it interesting that “suicide” is on the list, but I account for that because of shows like “Real Housewives” shows and “The Bachelor”.

Final Thoughts

Is TV bad for you? How much TV is bad for you? How is TV bad for you?

Clearly this recent study shows that there’s a direct link between watching TV for an extended amount of time and leading diseases in the United States.

Too much TV is certainly bad for you. Sure, diet, alcohol, and smoking contributed to bad health for the participants of this study, but the study was able to account for these lifestyle habits and found that extended TV viewing was still associated with higher risk for eight of the leading causes of death in the US.

The average American watches 3.5 hours of TV a day. That’s a lot of television; over 53 days a year. Wow. Let that sink in. The average American watches 53 days of TV a year.

I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. Hell, I love Walking Dead and Game of Thrones myself. But I’ve learned to limit my TV intake and do other things.

I have a stationary bike in my living room which I use while watching TV as well so that helps. Don’t have a bike? No problem. Here’s a workout you can do courtesy of P90X guru Tony Horton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkA5I-rlAeg

There are other things to do besides watching TV. Play board games. Stimulate your mind. Read a book. Even video games have been proven to be beneficial to you.

It’s ok to watch TV. We all have our favorite TV shows and sports. But for the sake of your health get up off the couch and find something else to do. 3.5 hours of TV a day is too much.



Please leave a comment below because. I’d love to hear your thoughts about “Is TV Bad For You”.