Sedentary lifestyle has a detrimental effect on people of all ages. Even 30-year-old people, who watch television every night, have problems with the arteries. Regular exercises do not help them.
The researchers from the Netherlands found that the more time young people spend watching TV, the stiffer their arteries become, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The maximum allowable time that can be spent in front of a TV or computer is 2 hours per day, but few people follow this recommendation.
The negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle on health, as shown by the study, are retained even in case the young people are regularly engaged in sports. The scientists collected data on 373 men and women, who completed questionnaires on how much time they spent on television, sports and other activities. The age of the respondents ranged from 32 to 36 years.
All the participants of the study also went through ultrasonic measurement of arterial stiffness. It was found that those who had the stiffest carotid artery spent an average of 20 minutes longer in front of a TV than those who had the most elastic arteries. Exactly the same results were obtained after measurements of arterial stiffness in the legs. The level of physical activity, as it turned out, was not important.
It should be noted that the established 2-hour limit on TV and computer, suggested by the scientists from the University of Maastricht, exactly coincides with the time that the children are allowed to spend in front of the screen according to the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
