Too much TV can shorten your life!

According to a recent study, watching too much TV can shave off a few years of your life!

With all our TV shows, favorite music videos and the much longed for movies to watch, television seems to be our favorite belonging in the house, doesn’t it? Well, according to a recent study, too much love with the television can be fatal! Australian researchers came to this conclusion when they obtained data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics.

More than eleven thousand participants, it was found, watched an estimated 9.8 billion hours of television in 2008. The same study also came to the conclusion that people who watch on average six hours of television daily, have a shorten life span of 4.5 years than those who do not watch it at all!

Watching too much TV is as detrimental to longevity as smoking and lack of exercise. Previous research has shown that smoking is associated with a four-year reduction in life expectancy after the age of 50. That works out to an average 11 minutes of life lost for every cigarette smoked — the equivalent to 30 minutes of TV time, according to the study.

It is apparent as well as obvious that sitting in front of the television all day is a health hazard. A couch potato does not partake in physical activities such as sports or exercise. Hence, he is more likely to fall prey to diseases such as diabetes and heart attacks. On the other hand, the tempting junk food commercials that you witness on television add to the health woes as it entices viewers to develop unhealthy practices of eating junk.

It’s okay to watch a bit of television every now and then as far as you keep on maintaining a healthy routine of exercise. So, keep up with your favorite TV shows, news and movies but be sure to hit the gym on a regular basis as well!