America’s biggest health challenge may be its couch potato problem

Can repeated viewings of The Voice or Glee or Modern Family cause type 2 diabetes?

Probably not (although watching Ace of Cakes might increase your risk of making a midnight run for some Twinkies).

There is no evidence that television causes diabetes. But SITTING in front of the television, hour after hour –- yes, that does appear to increase your type 2 risk.

According a study from the Harvard School of Public Health, camping out in front of the tube for more than two hours per day increased risk of diabetes AND cardiovascular disease.

Three hours of TV viewing per day increased the risk of premature death.

Add more viewing hours each day, and those three risks are more and more likely to become reality.

Now here’s the kicker: On average, each person in the U.S. watches five hours of TV each day.

That’s a public health disaster!

We don’t have an obesity epidemic -– we have a U.S. couch potato epidemic.

Source:
“Prolonged TV viewing linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease” Medical Xpress, 6/14/11, medicalxpress.com