The association between the time spent viewing TV and the development of obesity and diabetes is well known. In a study just published, researchers in Australia discovered additiional hazards of TV viewing. This study tracked TV viewing and disease development in 8800 adults followed for nearly 7 years.

The population was divided into three groups according to how much TV they watched. The lowest group watched less than two hours of TV a day. The middle group watched two to four hours of TV per day, and the highest groups watched more than four hours of TV each day. During the study 87 people died of cardiovascular diseases and 125 died of cancer. There was a strong correlation between TV hours watched and death from heart diesease even among people who had a healthy weight and who exrecised regularly.

People who watched more than four hours a day had an 80% greater risk of death from heart disease, a 25% increase in cancer risk, and a 46% higher risk of all causes of death compared with those who watched less than two hours a day.

It is fascinating that Ellen White, decades before television, saw evils connected with too much viewing. In 1880 she wrote, “Excessive indulgence in eating, drinking, sleeping or seeing is sin. The harmonious healthy action of all the powers of body and mind results in happiness; and the more elevated and refined the powers, the more pure and unalloyed the happiness.” Child Guidance, p. 394.

Are you watching TV more than two hours a day? If so, it is bad for your health?