Beware, couch time is shortening your life! For every hour of TV
viewing, your risk of dying early from heart disease rises by 18
per cent, says a new comprehensive study of sedentary lifestyle.
The study by Australian researchers shows that each hour of TV
viewing also increases your risk of dying from cancer by nine
per cent. Overall, each hour spent in front of TV increases your
risk of death by 11 per cent. Not only watching TV, but also
doing sedentary jobs — sitting at the desk or in front of a
computer — is equally dangerous for your health, according to
the study. As part of their study, the Australian researchers
chose 8,800 people — 3,846 men and 4,954 women above 25 years of
age — with no cardiovascular problems. They grouped them into
three categories on the basis of their television—viewing habits
— those who watched TV less than two hours a day, those who
watched it between two and four hours, and those who watched
more than four hours. During the next six years, 284 of them
died — 87 from cardi