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Spending time in front of the TV doing physical activity may not seem like the most fun job, a new study finds, but it’s associated with a much better chance of healthy aging.
“Our take-home message is that replacing television time with light physical activity, moderate to vigorous physical activity, and sleep (for participants with insufficient sleep) is beneficial for healthy aging,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Molin Wang, associate. professor of medicine in the department of epidemiology at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health.
The findings aren’t surprising because many studies show that sedentary behaviors have significant impacts on health, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. Freeman was not involved in this study.
For this study, researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study of more than 45,000 people aged 50 or older in 1992, who also did not have chronic illnesses, according to the study released Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers tracked information for 20 years about how much time people spent sitting at work, at home and watching television and their hours standing or walking at home and at work. These data were analyzed with data on their aging.
Healthy aging was defined as living to at least 70 years of age and maintaining at least four healthy domains, such as freedom from major chronic illness and freedom from subjective memory, physical health and mental health, according to the study.
According to the study, every two additional hours spent watching television was associated with a 12% decrease in the odds of healthy aging. On the other hand, adding two hours of light physical activity at work increases the chances of healthy aging by 6%.
According to the study, replacing an hour spent watching television with light physical activity at home or at work was associated with better chances of healthy aging.
“Vegetating in front of the TV still seems to be associated with worse outcomes,” Freeman said. “Of course, it makes physiological sense that human beings were never meant to sit in front of a screen all day.”
“The more we sit, the more problems we have, especially as we get older,” he added.
A 2017 study showed a relationship between sitting time and premature death from any cause. And sedentary time during childhood may increase the risk of heart disease later in life, according to a 2023 study.
The problem is particularly serious when eating a very large amount of salt, which is typical of the American diet, without getting enough movement to circulate fluids, he added.
These often unhealthy habits go hand in hand.
“When people sit in front of the television, it usually leads to all these other comorbid activities, like eating junk food, TV dinners, not being able to communicate with others, and it can even interrupt sleep,” Freeman said. .
Time spent sitting at a desk or on the living room couch also takes away the opportunity to get out and be active.
“You’re missing out on all that physical activity, which is really an incredible way to reduce cardiovascular risk and blood pressure,” Freeman said.
If you work eight, 10, or even 12 hours a day in an office, it can be difficult to fit more movement into your day.
“My very strong suggestion is that you should consider at work getting a standing desk if you can, or even a treadmill desk if you’re able and have the space,” Freeman said.
If that’s not possible, things like getting up often or walking to meetings can help, he said.
“If you’re sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time, in my opinion, that’s probably too long, and you really want to try to move a little bit,” Freeman added.
However, you don’t have to forbid sitting or watching TV.
Maybe try pairing TV with healthy behaviors, like watching while moving or eating a nutritious snack, he said. Or better yet, set limits for yourself.
“There are all these great tools and apps available…and a lot of people think of them as tools for kids, but the truth is they’re just as good as they are for adults,” Freeman said. “It lets you track how much time you spend in front of your screen and then how much activity you have on the same device, which is pretty interesting.”
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