Every hour of TV watching shortens life by 22 minutes

[Ichingcarpenter]

In a paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr J Lennert Veerman and colleagues looked at the results of a survey of 11,247 Australians taken in 1999-2000, which asked about time spent watching TV, and also mortality figures for the country.
They constructed a model in which they compared life expectancy for adults who watch TV to those who did not, and worked out that every hour spent glued to the screen shortened life by 21.8 minutes.
For those in the top 1 per cent of the population who watch six hours of programmes a day, they “can expect to live 4.8 years less than a person who does not watch TV”.,,,,,,,,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8702101/Every-hour-of-TV-watching-shortens-life-by-22-minutes.html ... sounds like commercials

[H2O Man]

1. Respectfully disagree.

I believe every hour spent watching tv shortens one's life by exactly 60 minutes.

[dtexdem]

24. Well, sure, at the end of the hour.

But this correlational study suggests that it shortens life by 82 minutes by the end of the hour. ;-)

That is, unless it means that of your 60 minutes, TV watching has only aged one 22 minutes, so that one came out 38 minutes ahead. ;-)

But the issue is that this is a correlational study; and correlation does not constitute causation. In particular, correlations can be spurious, two things correlated because of a separate cause. More often, factors interact, so it is not a clear case of one causing another. In this case, I would note that a lifestyle that omits physical activity leads to shortened life, and that lifestyle likely includes a lot of couch-potatoing, whether or not a TV is on -- but more likely with one on. In that case, TV watching may be involved in causing shortened lifespan but is enmeshed in a complex web of causes of that shorter lifespan.

But in any case, even if the correlation is spurious, it can nevertheless be symptomatic: Even if TV viewing does not cause the 22-minute decline in life, it can be taken as an indicator of high risk of such a shortened lifespan.

[Enrique]

2. causation vs. correlation

headline is a textbook example.

[PeaceNikki]

3. What about when I watch TV while busting my ass on the treadmill? Is that a wash?

:shrug:

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Watching faux or Morning Joe

Will kill you anyway so you won't care

[lame54]

4. I would have never been born

[RockaFowler]

5. I should be dead, then

I work at a TV Station. I watch TV all day long. It hasn't really affected me all that much

[Johonny]

13. I was thinking the same thing

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. I was reborn after quitting TV praiseeeee

The Internet and high speed access. Watch what I like when I want.
Morning Joe almost killed me and my blood pressure

[jdlh8894]

7. So, I guess------

People lived longer before there was TV?? OK I'm down w/that.

[kentauros]

8. So, counteract it by watching just comedies:

Laughter Is Indeed Good Medicine
Laughter Affects Body Like Exercise

May I recommend high doses of Eddie Izzard and Father Ted in that case? :D

[truebrit71]

11. "cake or death?"....Feck! Drink! Arse!

:D

[kentauros]

12. "Do you have a flag?"

"Dougal! We have to get rid of that sax solo!" :P

[truebrit71]

20. "Mais, ou est le Sange? Le Sange est disparu...."

...

[kentauros]

26. quoi?

Because the monkey would just fuck off! :rofl:

[Ichingcarpenter]

28. Father Ted says you are going to hell

[kentauros]

29. Ya big hairy arse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLTnacYvvg4

:rofl:

[mikeytherat]

46. My lovely, lovely, lovely, horse, running through the field...

mikey_the_rat

[Ignis]

35. I must protest your choice of amusement!

[kentauros]

57. !!

:rofl:

This thread is lengthening my life already! :D :thumbsup:

[nevergiveup]

9. Does every hour on DU

extend life? We need a study.

[Broderick]

55. I bet it does more to shorten life

the stress and all.

[Zorra]

10. Kill your television

before it kills you?

TV really is an idiot box, and most people that watch it are addicted to it.

[jwhitesj]

44. I agree

My wife is addicted to TV like it is a drug. I don't know how to get her off of her bad habbit though. :(

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. Is going to the theatre or sitting in a classroom harmful sedentary behavior as well?

[kentauros]

27. What about doing research in a library,

or sitting and writing? ;)

[a la izquierda]

41. That will kill you 30 years early.

I'm convinced. Especially if you work in a Mexican research library...the stress there is enough to make one spontaneously combust.

[kentauros]

45. Hmm, sounds like a good plot for a comedy.

Put it on Comedy Central and be sure to include some Mexican wrestlers :P

[a la izquierda]

47. And combine it with...

my bout with giardia that I suffered on my first trip there, and it's sure to be a hit! ;)

[Shagbark Hickory]

50. No comedy central series would be complete without a violent case of bloody diarrhea.

[seabeyond]

15. i am gonna live.... forevah. nt

[KurtNYC]

30. I'm gonna learn to fly...high. nt

[seabeyond]

36. 'fraid of heights, lol. nt

[HubertHeaver]

16. Its the commercials.

Alfred Hitchcock was right--commercials make you sick.

[bemildred]

17. Oh good, more health factoids. nt

[TwilightGardener]

19. It's funny that they're doing studies on just "watching TV"--how about the

internet, or reading? If you're sitting and staring at anything instead of getting up and moving, I would think the results are the same.

[dtexdem]

21. Well thank goodness I only watch cable.

;-)

[sfpcjock]

22. Could it be the 25 minutes/hour of ads...

that fragment the content so much you can't remember what you're watching?

If you like documentaries, then try these sites:

http://www.mytvblog.org/"> My TV Blog.org

and

http://www.downarchive.com/movies/documentary/"> DownArchive

[Javaman]

23. but 15 minutes of exercise a day will add 3 years to your life!

My question is: if you are on the tread mill and watching TV, does it cancel out any benefits you would get from the exercise?

my head hurts

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. coffee is healthy so is booze in moderation

while on a treadmill having sex.

[sfpcjock]

31. Coincidentally =s the hourly span of commercial breaks on American TV

The BBC is much more restrained because of how it is funded on a TV tax.

[SoCalDem]

32. And every day that passes, shortens life by 24 hours

:rofl:

[truebrit71]

40. Holy shit!!! You're RIGHT!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!

We're all doomed!!!!!!

:evilgrin:

[librechik]

33. ...OMG, I have only 6 months to live!!

at least I'll get to see the series conclusion of Fringe.

[Renew Deal]

34. Did you hear that Rachel Maddow fans???

:evilgrin:

[War Horse]

37. I'm about to start translating subtitles for TV

for a living.

Better get my affairs in order.

[Rex]

38. That must only be for couch potatoes. Some people workout while

watching TVEE.

[truebrit71]

39. ...then that means I am speaking to you from the great beyond...bad news...it sucks just as bad here

as it did on Earth...

[thelordofhell]

42. Hell yeah, I just save myself 4.8 years of suffering

No shitting in a diaper with a broken hip feeling every heartbeat in my chest and thinking, "Heart attacks just around the corner". Who lives their last 5 years well anyway?

[Codeine]

43. baloney.

You could just as easily posit that each hour of reading a book or surfing the web or meditating shortens your life by 22 minutes. Being physically active through the day will more than compensate for time spent resting.

[Buns_of_Fire]

48. ...unless it's "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" -- that show shortens your life by 32 minutes...

But if you TIVO it and skip the commercials, you gain back 9.5 minutes. If it's an episode you've already seen, subtract 3 minutes. If it's the "bikini wax" episode, add 2.5 minutes -- unless one of the ads is for Metamucil (in that case, subtract 2.25 minutes). But if you're watching it in prime time, with no TIVO time-shifting, all figures must be increased by 10% -- unless it's a Thursday, in which case the figures should be reduced by 25%.

I've got it all written down somewhere.

[Philippine expat]

49. With the amount of TV I watch I guess I

would have been an old dude.
Luckily I don't believe this BS

[ThatsMyBarack]

51. Good!

That means I don't have to age in what is sure to be a crummy future!

[Iggo]

52. Then I should be dead already. (n/t)

[tawadi]

53. I should be dead, by many years, then. eom

[B Calm]

54. LOL. . . what kind of bullshit is this. . .

[rucky]

56. Every hour of living shortens your lifespan by an hour

So tv actually extends your lifespan by 38 mnutes

QED