Watching television is taking years off your life (basically)
There have certainly been episodes of "Real Housewives" that have made me die a little (oh, dear, and the main culprit was the Countess squawking alongside a very tolerant Natalie Cole). But who knew television could actually make your life end sooner?
Well, you did. And so did I. It's no shock, right? Of course not. Watching television -- and all the unhealthy, sedentary stuff that goes along with the clicker, big bowl of Doritos, and coverlet of lethargy -- subtracts years from our lifespan.
Science is now nodding along with those of us who've happily offed ourselves early in exchange for one more hour of "The Glee Project". A study of 11,000 people out the University of Queensland in Australia finds that people who watch television for an average of six hours a day live about five years less than people who don't watch at all.
Researchers also noted that, after the age of 25, television watches lose 22 minutes of their lifespan for every hour they view the tube. Experts balance out these findings by adding that it's the lifestyle associated with watching lots of television rather than a direct correlation between TV-viewing and dying younger.
[See also: What TV is really teaching children]
Although he doesn't say it outright, I do believe Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, was referring to all those Doritos and all that couch-sitting when he commented on the link.
"As a rule, the more time we spend watching TV, the more time we spend eating mindlessly in front of the TV, and the less time we spend being physically active," Katz told Yahoo! News.
"More eating and less physical activity, in turn, mean greater risk for obesity, and the chronic diseases it tends to anticipate, notably diabetes, heart disease and cancer," he said.
But we're already aware of this, too, correct? So why isn't all this info we hear about spending most nights stuck to our seat not motivating us to get up and move around more?
I've already sold my soul to the Bravo network, so I can't really justify giving them actual hours of my life. What about you?
What will it take for you to turn off the television -- or at least do some planks during "Teen Mom" commercials? How many hours do you (HONESTLY this time) watch a day?
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