TV Watching Linked to Overweight
I am not a particular television watcher, although I do enjoy a bit of six feet under, lost, heroes and sex in the city (with the occasional American idol episode). Yikes! I sound like a real junkie, but it doesn’t really feel that way.
Anyway, too much TV is associated with poor health, and an increased risk of excess weight/obesity.
A recent study, which appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the relationship between television viewing and weight in young adults aged 26-36. In this study, individuals were assessed for waist size, TV viewing time, amount of food and drink consumed during TV viewing, and physical activity levels during leisure time.
The researchers found that watching more television was associated with greater waist circumference. Women who watched 3 or more hours of TV a day had a 89 per cent increased risk of severe abdominal obesity compared to those watching 1 hour of TV a day or less. Men watching 3 or more hours of TV a day were more than twice as likely to have moderate abdominal obesity compared to those watching 1 hour of TV a day or less.
Further research surprisingly showed that variations in leisure time activity had little influence on the findings.
However, there does appear to be a link between TV viewing, food intake, and waist circumference. Why this is the case is not completely clear.
What we can gather from this is that TV viewing time is a marker for the weight and the overall wellbeing of a person. We can only speculate as to why.
Here are some possible reasons why this link might exist:
· Perhaps it is possible that people who choose to watch less Television have a tendency to want to eat healthy foods, due to education, motivation, or other factors.
· People who watch a lot of TV may have the tendency for overeating, and unconscious, mindless eating.
· People who watch a lot of TV may be more likely to eat a lot of junkie, snacky foods such as chips, fries and sweets. The TV turns the mind off, which turns off the mind body connection and the internal desire to eat healthy food.
· A person who watches a lot of television is more likely to be influenced by advertisements, which generally never encourages truly nutritious food.
More than likely, there is a mixture of reasons why people who watch TV tend to put on the pounds. The bottom line is, trying to cut down on the boob tube watching and filling our time with other, more engaging, mindful activities is always a good idea that will not only prevent disease and show on our waists, but will show in our life in general.
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October 8th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
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