How an hour watching TV can increase diabetes risk
EVERY hour spent sitting watching television increases the risk of getting diabetes, researchers have warned.
A study revealed that every hour that people regularly spend slumped in front of the TV can raise the risk of developing the condition by 3.4 per cent.
Researchers believe that too much sitting can increase people’s weight – a risk factor for the condition.
The study saw scientists enrol 3,234 overweight men and women over the age of 25 to try and determine how to prevent high-risk adults developing type 2 diabetes.
They were split into three groups, with one given the drug metformin, one increasing their activity levels and the other given a placebo pill.
At the start of the study, the total time spent watching TV was around 140 minutes per day in all three groups – with another 400 minutes spent sitting at work.
At the end, those in the activity group spent less time watching TV, and less time sitting at work – cutting the time they were sedentary by around 37 fewer minutes on average.
Those in the placebo and the drug groups, however, only reduced the amount of time they spent sitting by nine minutes or less.
Researchers claim that the risk of diabetes increased by 3.4 per cent for each hour spent watching TV after adjustment for age, sex and other factors. The results of the study were published in Diabetologia, The Journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
Lead researcher Dr Andrea Kriska, from the University of Pittsburgh, said: ‘Future intervention efforts should focus on increasing activity, reducing weight and sitting less.’
In the UK, the average amount of time spent watching TV is four hours a day compared with five hours in the US. Sedentary behaviour is linked to obesity, high levels of blood fats and other heart disease risk fac- tors. Previous research has found that people who watch six hours of TV a day shorten their lifespan by five years compared with someone who watches no TV.
The average adult spends 90 per cent of their leisure time sitting down and less than half of adults meet World Health Organisation physical activity recommendations.
Diabetes UK spokesman Richard Elliott said: ‘We already know that doing more physical activity and spending less time seated, along with eating a healthy diet, are the best ways to prevent type 2 diabetes.
‘This study does not show watching TV to be a direct cause of type 2 diabetes, and does not directly compare the impact of watching TV with the impact of other seated activities such as reading or commuting, but still adds to evidence that less time spent sitting helps to reduce your risk of this condition.’