Like…watching lots of tv is like, really bad for you, mmmkay?

Researchers are now claiming that watching too much TV is as bad for your health as smoking and being overweight. Perhaps government should regulate our viewing habits as well?

Anyone who spends six hours a day in front of the box is at risk of dying five years sooner than those who enjoy more active pastimes, it is claimed.

Researchers say that watching too much TV is as dangerous as smoking or being overweight, and that the “ubiquitous sedentary behaviour” should be seen as a “public health problem”.

Experts from the University of Queensland, Australia, write: “TV viewing time may have adverse health consequences that rival those of lack of physical activity, obesity and smoking; every single hour of TV viewed may shorten life by as much as 22 minutes.”

Good to know….but isn’t this basically stating the obvious? That a sedentary lifestyle (whether from too much Oprah, Xbox, or Daily Kos reading on the computer) is detrimental to your health?

Referring to Australian and American guidelines that suggest children should spend no more than two hours a day in front of a screen, the academics conclude: “With further corroborative evidence, a public health case could be made that adults also need to limit the time spent watching TV.”

Although health campaigners – and parents – have long warned of the dangers of watching too much television, its effects on life expectancy have never before been calculated.

In a paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr J Lennert Veerman and colleagues looked at the results of a survey of 11,247 Australians taken in 1999-2000, which asked about time spent watching TV, and also mortality figures for the country.

They constructed a model in which they compared life expectancy for adults who watch TV to those who did not, and worked out that every hour spent glued to the screen shortened life by 21.8 minutes.

What are the effects of 6 hrs of sedentary living so long as one is still getting in adequate amounts of exercise to counteract the couch potato syndrome? I’m sure there are those of us who lead active lifestyles and get proper exercise who also find ourselves in front of the TV set and especially the computer screen (what’s the difference?) for more than a couple of hours each day. And what of those who lead 9-5 jobs sitting all day in a cubicle, in front of a computer?

The researchers say that watching TV is among the most common forms of sedentary behaviour, along with sitting in cars.

England’s Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, said: “Physical activity offers huge benefits and these studies back what we already know – that doing a little bit of physical activity each day brings health benefits and a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks.

Well…isn’t this simply duh science? Nothing really new under the sun here, is there but confirming the obvious? Physical activity = good. Physical inactivity = bad. And all good things taken in moderation:

Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Sedentary behaviour such as vegging in front of the TV is practically a cultural institution these days and it’s good to relax for a while, but this study supports the view that too much of it can be bad for our health.

I don’t see how it’s the tv-viewing itself that’s at fault: It’s the vegging around, leading inactive lifestyle that creates obesity that results in health issues that takes away from quality of life and a reduction in life expectancy.

Next, scientists should examine how viewing even 5 minutes of FOX News or reading a Flopping Aces post causes high blood pressure and heart conditions amongst liberal idealogues and Obama faithfuls.

British Journal of Sports Medicine article here.