TV and its Effect on Fitness

Recent studies by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with experts at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health confirm this link¹. An interesting new study reveals that this connection holds true, no matter how much exercise people get²!

The study comes from Finland where they examined participants in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires about how much moderate and vigorous physical activity they got and how many hours of television they watched per day. They were all tested for trunk muscle strength and jump height as well. Television watching aside, the initial results on exercise are not encouraging. About 21% of men said they did seven hours a week of vigorous exercise and 28% got less than 2 hours. For women, 7% exercised vigorously for 7 hours per week, and 41% got less than 2 hours.

Watching lots of television, however, was quite popular: 49% of men and 54% of women reported watching television for more than two hours per day. Not surprisingly, the women who got more exercise performed better on the trunk strength and jumping tests and the women who did the least exercise performed the worst on these tests. The same occurred with men.

Also to be expected, both men and women who watched more than two hours of television a day performed worse on the fitness tests compared to those who watched less TV. What surprised the researchers was that watching more TV was associated with lower fitness levels no matter how much physical activity the men and women reported getting.

It’s possible that high TV watching leads to a generally sedentary lifestyle. Those people who watch more than two hours per day may choose more sedentary activities (outside of any regular exercise they get), leading to lower fitness levels than people who watch less TV. Those who watch less might choose more active pursuits during the day, in addition to their regular exercise, which would contribute to their overall fitness level.

Another finding of concern was that about half the participants were watching more than 2 hours of television per day. That means they have about 15 hours each week that they could be engaging in more healthy activities. The message to all of us is clear: getting off the couch is good for you, and watching less TV may even encourage us to choose healthier activities above and beyond your regular exercise routine.

1 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/tv-and-obesity-in-children.aspx

2 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/watching-hours-of-television-isnt-the-best-thing-kids-and-teens-can-do-studies-have-shown-a-connection-between-high-screen-t.html