A new study found that 79 per cent of Brits watch two or more hours of TV a day, prompting concerns.
Scientists have warned that spending a certain amount of time watching television can significantly raise your risk of life-threatening medical conditions. A new study revealed that watching two or more hours of TV daily could increase your chances of heart attack, stroke, and other blood vessel diseases by as much as 12 per cent.
This connection was found among people with varying levels of risk for type 2 diabetes. In the study of more than 340,000 Brits, it was discovered that a shocking 79 per cent of people watch two or more hours of TV each day – putting them in danger of these associated conditions.
As part of the research, a team investigated the link between TV viewing, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). This disease is caused by plaque build-up in arterial walls and refers to conditions that include heart disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease.
Youngwon Kim, lead author of the study and a professor in the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, explained: “Type 2 diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle, including prolonged sitting, are major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Watching TV, which accounts for more than half of daily sedentary behaviour, is consistently associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.
“Our study provides new insights into the roles of limiting TV viewing time in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases for everyone and especially in people with a high genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes.”
This study, which was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, analysed data from a large biomedical database of 346,916 UK adults. Over the follow-up period of 14, 21,265 people in the study developed atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Their type 2 diabetes risk was gauged through a polygenic risk score, while their TV viewing habits were scored based on questionnaire results. This questionnaire found that 21 per cent of participants watched TV one hour or less a day, while more than 79 per cent reported two or more hours per day of TV-watching time.
Spending two hours or more daily in front of the TV was associated with a 12 per cent higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, compared to watching TV for one hour or less daily, regardless of the person’s genetic risk for type 2 diabetes.
The 10-year probability of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was lower (2.13 per cent) for participants with high type 2 diabetes genetic risk combined with one hour or less daily of TV viewing. This was compared to people with low type 2 diabetes genetic risk and who reported two or more hours of daily TV viewing (2.46 per cent).
First study author Mengyao Wang continued: “We found that people with high genetic risk for Type 2 diabetes may exhibit lower chances of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by limiting TV watching to one hour or less each day. This suggests that less TV viewing could serve as a key behavioural target for preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases linked to type 2 diabetes genetics.
“Future strategies and actions to prevent disease and improve health by reducing time in front of the TV and promoting other healthy lifestyle modifications should target broad populations, including those with a high genetic risk for type 2 diabetes.”
Damon L. Swift, chair of the American Heart Association’s Physical Activity Committee, added: “This study shows that reducing TV watching can benefit both people at high risk for type 2 diabetes and those at low risk. It also highlights how lifestyle choices can improve health.
“These findings add to the evidence that sitting time may represent a potential intervention tool to improve health in people in general, and specifically for people with a high risk for type 2 diabetes. This is especially important because people with type 2 diabetes are at a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease compared to those who do not have diabetes.”
However, it is important to note that the study participants were all from the UK and mostly people of white British descent, so the findings may not apply to people of other ethnicities. It has long been acknowledged that a sedentary lifestyle can raise your risk for many dangerous health conditions.
Therefore, the NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise a week to stay healthy and lower your risk of certain conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and even cancer.
