A new study from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggests that obesity isn’t the only negative side effect of excessive television watching. The study explains that young adults who tune in to two hours or more of TV per day have poor muscular fitness.
Researchers Niko Paalane and Tuija Tammelin of Finland, studied more than 870 Finnish young men and women around 19 years of age. Subjects’ muscular fitness was measured using trunk rotation, trunk flexion, press strength and jumping height. Those who watched the most television – at least two hours per day – performed significantly worse in the tests.
“One of the most startling findings in our research was that about half of the young adults studied were watching TV at least two hours per day,” Paalane said. “That equates to nearly 15 hours per week – time that could be spent doing healthy, productive activities.”
The issue could be magnified for American adults who, according to Nielsen ratings, watch approximately 142 hours of TV per month on average, equating to more than four hours per day. Furthermore, the Finnish study showed a lower level of muscular fitness in the young adults who watched high amounts of TV, regardless of their physical activity level.
