Stomach fat rises as hours of TV go up

Binge watchers, you may want to hit the pause button for this: watching TV has been linked to more belly fat — even for people who exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.

For every hour and a half spent watching TV, abdominal fat increased by about three cubic centimetres, according to a study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Abdominal fat is a concern because it is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers looked at belly fat levels in more than 3,000 middle-aged men and women. They asked them how much time they spent doing six different sedentary behaviours — reading a book, using a computer, talking or texting on the phone, sitting in a car, doing paper work and watching television — to see what, if any, effect the activity had on abdominal fat levels.

“TV was the only sedentary behaviour out of those six that was associated with belly fat,” said Kara Whitaker, the study’s lead author.

Even more surprising: when the researchers examined all of the sedentary behaviours combined, the association between abdominal fat was not as strong as it was with only TV watching, Whitaker said.

“It’s really television time that seems to be driving this association with belly fat,” she said.

The results were published in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

One possible explanation for the study’s findings is that TV got more of the blame. Because people remember which shows they watched, they are better at recalling their TV viewing time compared with other activities, Whitaker said.