Is watching TV bad for you?

When you think of risks to your longevity, what comes to mind? Smoking? Being overweight? A poor diet or lack of exercise? How about watching TV?

That last one might surprise you. But according to one study, watching TV or videos is a potentially overlooked health risk. In the study, every 2-hour increment of daily TV watching increased the risk of dying by 14 percent.

What's behind this increased risk?

The research suggests it's mainly due to increases in the risk of dying of several diseases. These include diabetes, Parkinson's disease, liver or lung disease, flu or pneumonia, heart disease, and cancer.

What if you're physically active?

Researchers divided the study subjects into two groups. One group got more than 4 hours of physical activity a week, and one group got less physical activity. As you might guess, the less active group fared worse than the more active group when amounts of TV watching were the same.

Being active didn't cancel out the negative effect of TV, though. There was no significant difference between active people who watched the most TV and inactive people who watched the least when heart disease, cancer, diabetes or lung disease was the cause of death.

What can you do?

You don't need to throw out your television. Watching a limited amount of TV can be a relaxing and enjoyable part of a healthy lifestyle. However, it appears that above a certain level, negative health consequences begin to build. This may be due to a variety of reasons, including:

• More time sitting and less time moving
• The increased snacking that often accompanies TV watching
• Engaging in less social activity

If you watch TV, take these steps to stay healthy:

• Practice moderation. Keep your watching to a minimum.
• Avoid snacking. And be wary of the influence of advertising on your eating habits.
• Stay active. Get up and walk during commercials. Or walk on a treadmill, ride an exercise bicycle or do chores when your TV is on.