According to the results of a study conducted in Australia, TV shortens people’s life by about five years.
Australian experts studied the data from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information. They compared the information about the health of those who did not watch TV at all and those who did it often. It turned out that every hour spent in front of the screen took away 22 minutes of life of the people older than 25 years. If we consider that the average Australian spends 6 hours a day in front of a TV set, it turns out that it reduces life by 5 years.
The fact is that, from the point of view of the scientists, watching television on a daily basis produces the same effect on the body as smoking, inactivity and overeating (people often do these things while watching TV). By the way, a similar study has been recently conducted at Harvard, and it allowed the scientists to draw similar conclusions.
Does this mean that we should refuse watching TV? Doctors say there is no need to do it: one just has to put a stationary bike or a treadmill in front of the TV set rather than a sofa. It will make watching TV bring additional health benefits.
By the way, according to another study (A.C. Nielsen), the average American wastes 9 hours of his life watching TV.
