Watching TV can kill. Seriously

Researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, on Thursday said that adults who watched a lot of TV may die at a relatively younger age.

The study, according to livescience.com, a science Website, involved more than 13,200 adults in Spain who were all college graduates, and were around 37 years old at the start of the study.

Participants were followed for about eight years, over which there were 97 deaths.

The researchers found that those who watched three or more hours of TV a day were twice as likely to die over the study period, compared with those who watched TV for one hour or less daily.

In addition, the researchers found that the time spent by the participants sitting, watching TV, using a computer or driving was linked to an increased risk of death during the study.

The study put into consideration other factors that could affect a person’s risk of death, including age, sex, smoking habits, total calorie intake, snacking habits, body mass index and physical activity level.

They also considered whether participants adhered to a Mediterranean diet, which had been linked to a longer life.

This new findings corroborated other studies that linked watching TV with an increased risk of death.

A 2010 study of Australian adults found that each additional hour of watching TV was linked with an 11 per cent increase in the risk of death over a 6-year period.

But the new study is one of the first to examine the link in younger adults.

“Not only the promotion of physical activity but also the reduction in sedentary activities (especially television viewing) is a priority for the prevention of premature mortality,” the researchers suggested.

Interestingly, when the researchers considered computer use and driving separately, neither of these activities were linked with an increased risk of death, but future studies were needed to confirm these findings.

The researchers noted that they assessed people’s computer use at the study’s start in 1999, before prolonged use was common.

“Driving and computer use may also require slightly more energy expenditure and muscle activity than watching TV,” the researchers said.