Don’t be a Teletubby!!

Now we know you’re an active bunch, but I’m not gonna lie…over the holidays, I did a bit of TV watching. You know, you watch a couple of films, your nice and snug on the couch, it’s cold outside, and thank goodness you don’t have to move an inch if you don’t want to.  I like it, good film after good film, it’s a treat no?

Well it is if that kind of TV marathon is only done around the holidays (and by that I mean Christmas day and one or two days after e.g. an nth percent of the year) and not on a regular basis.  A study done by David Dunstan of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia, found that each hour spent sitting in front of the TV per day raised a person’s risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 18 percent!!

“What this study provides is the first compelling evidence linking television viewing to an increased risk of early death,” said Dunstan.  Eek, does that mean I have to curb Saturday afternoon SATC re-runs???  Researchers found the increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease in those watching four or more hours of television per day when compared with those watching less than two hours per day after taking common risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, diet, leisure-time exercise and waist circumference into account.
Dunstan says that such a sedentary activity involves no muscle movement, and we need muscle contractions for the body’s regulatory processes to function well.  So essentially, periods of prolonged TV viewing means that,  we ain’t using it, so we’re probably losing it!!

It’s all about throwing  a few squats in during the ad breaks girls…you know you wanna!!

Related posts:

1. To all you thighs out there…show us a little thunder!
2. Are muffin tops a measure of your health?