TV trouble

Watching TV can be hazardous to your health. In a study of more than 50,000 women, every two hours per day of TV watching increased the risk of obesity by 23 percent and the risk of diabetes by 14 percent. Sitting while at work was linked to much smaller increases in risk.

In contrast, every hour per day of brisk walking was linked to a 24 percent drop in the risk of obesity and a 34 percent drop in the risk of diabetes. An estimated 30 percent of new cases of obesity and 43 percent of new cases of diabetes could be prevented if women were to spend less than 10 hours a week watching TV and at least 30 minutes a day walking briskly, say the authors.

What to do: Get off the couch and go for a walk.

J. Amer. Med.Assoc. 289: 1785, 2003.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Center for Science in the Public Interest
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning