BRISBANE, Australia, August 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Research carried out at the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland shows that every hour of TV watched after the age of 25 is correlated with a reduction of the viewer’s life expectancy by an average of 22 minutes.
Dr. Lennert Veerman and associates conducted the study as a follow-up to a previous study in Australia that found an 8 percent greater risk of dying prematurely associated with watching an hour of TV a day.
“Prolonged television TV viewing time is unfavourably associated with mortality outcomes, particularly for cardiovascular disease, but the impact on life expectancy has not been quantified. We’ve taken that study and translated it into what it means for life expectancy in Australia given how much TV we watch,” Dr. Veerman said.
The researchers based their report on an analysis of a survey of 11,000 participants aged 25 and over that started in 1999–2000. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study allowed the authors to construct a “life table model” that showed the impact of changes in population average TV viewing time on life expectancy at birth.
The data revealed that Australians watch an average of two hours of TV per day, which the report states is correlated with a reduction of life span by between 1.5 to almost 2 years.
The report also showed that a person who watches an average of six hours of TV a day would live on average 4.8 years less than someone who watches none.
“The amount of TV viewed in Australia in 2008 reduced life expectancy at birth by 1.8 years … for men and 1.5 years … for women. Compared with persons who watch no TV, those who spend a lifetime average of 6 h/day watching TV can expect to live 4.8 years … less,” the report states.
Dr. Veerman concluded that TV viewing time may be associated with a loss of life that is comparable to other major chronic disease risk factors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle and obesity.
“While smoking rates are declining, watching TV is not, which has implications at a population level,” Dr. Veerman said.
An abstract of the research report, titled “Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: a life table analysis,” and published August 15th, 2011 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, is available here.