It seems like there is a never ending stream of reports that link television viewing to health risks of one kind or another. A Netherlands university is the latest to come out with one.
It seems, according to the study from Maastricht University as reported by Reuters, that excessive television viewing is a factor in preventing proper exercise, and that in turn robs arteries of elasticity.
Hardened arteries are directly tied to hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Reuters adds in mentions of other maladies attached to television viewing in earlier studies, including weight gain, higher cholesterol levels and diabetes.
Of course, TV does not get direct blame – its culpability is that its overuse is preventing the overuser from engaging in the kinds of physical activity that provide medical benefits.
RBR-TVBR observation: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Has there ever been a study that tied health risks to excessive book reading or listening to the stereo too much? It always seems to us that these are basically studies that link health risks to sedentary behavior, and there are a lot more sedentary behaviors than just watching television.
Don’t get us wrong – we are firm believers in exercise and in cultivating a range of interests that go far beyond parking in front of the television set.
But seriously – whenever somebody studies the effect of heavy TV use and health, we already know what the answer is going to be.
Hey, maybe somebody should do a study of the adverse health repercussions of the excessive study of the effect of TV on the human organism! There sits the intrepid researcher, sedentarily watching the sedentary subject for hours on end. Has to take a toll, right?
