Watching less TV could prevent poor health, says new research

Limiting our television consumption to two hours every day could help prevent poor health, says a new study.

A study from the University of Glasgow found that cancer and cardiovascular disease, health risks that are associated with screen time, were at their lowest when television was viewed for two hours or less.

Around 500,000 people from ages 37 to 73 took part in the study, over a 12-year-period.

The study looked into alternative activities such as walking as a substitute for watching TV.

Results from the research show that adults should reduce their exposure to TV, watching videos on mobile phones and living a general inactive lifestyle. By reducing their TV time to two hours or less a day, potentially 5.62% of all deaths could be prevented.

Dr Hamish Foster, the leader of the study, says that unhealthy snacking and lower socioeconomic status of participants are linked to poor health and TV time.