Binge-watching television increases bowel cancer risk

♦ Binge watching more than four hours of television a day could increase the risk of bowel cancer in men, new research suggests.

Experts looked at data from more than half a million people, and found that lengthy viewing was associated with a 35 per cent increased risk of contracting the disease. However there was no increased risk for women and no link between computer screen time and bowel cancer.

Researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggested that watching television was associated with smoking, drinking and snacking more, all of which can increase the risk of bowel cancer. Being sedentary could also lead to weight gain and greater body fat, which can alter levels of hormone and other chemicals which in turn increase bowel cancer risk.

The research was published in the British Journal of Cancer.