After a long day at work, many people want to relax by watching their favorite program. And yet, you should stop for your health. According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), replacing one hour of daily television with light physical activity at home would increase the chances of reaching a healthy age of 70 or older by 8%. physical and mental.
The observation is clear and far from surprising. Sitting for hours in front of a television screen has negative effects on our health. If the reports follow one another, this latest study demonstrates that the curve can be reversed if physical activity is favored instead of an hour spent in front of the small screen: “Each increase in 2 hours per day spent sitting and watching television was associated with a 12% reduction in the odds of healthy aging.”said the researchers.
The twenty-year study was carried out among more than 45,000 women from the “Nurses’ Health” study, aged at least 50 and not suffering from any chronic illness at the start of the study in 1992. The lifestyle habits of these participants were tracked, including time spent sitting at work and at home, time spent watching television, as well as hours spent standing or walking at home. This data was then compared to information about their health and aging over time.
Among the negative consequences, the study warns of the sitting position which can affect skeletal muscles but also chronic diseases “by reducing insulin sensitivity and disrupting postprandial glucose and lipid metabolism”. Sit still to watch television “may negatively impact peripheral and central vascular markers, such as cerebral blood flow.”
If watching TV is the enemy of good health, sport, even gentle sport, can prove to be an ally in remedying it. According to researchers, engaging in light physical activity for an hour can increase your chances of reaching age 70 in good physical and mental health by 8%. For the most trained, opting for an intensive one-hour sports session can significantly tip the scales in your favor, with a 28% chance of maintaining a good physique.
For the less sporty, your bed will be your best partner since, according to researchers, sleeping is preferable to watching TV: “Replacing television with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity or even light physical activity or sleep (among participants who slept ≤7 hours per day) was associated with improved healthy aging.”they clarified.
Bad habits in front of the TV
If experts consider watching TV to be a particularly unhealthy activity, this is due not only to the lack of movement, but also to the other harmful habits that accompany it. This could be because watching TV is often associated with an unhealthy diet and higher calorie intake: “Participants who spent more time watching television were older, less educated, more likely to smoke or drink alcohol, more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and more likely to have lower BMI and higher calorie intake and poorer diet quality, compared to those who spent less time watching television.underlined the study. “In addition, studies have shown that people who spend more time watching television tend to adopt unhealthy eating habits and increase total energy intake, which is directly linked to disease risk.”
This finding is all the more worrying given that 84% of elderly people in the United States spend 2 hours or more per day sitting down watching television. 25.7% even report sitting for more than 8 hours a day and 44.6% are inactive, the study reported.
