Is TV killing you?

A new Australian study finds that watching television increases the chance you'll die young. Time to turn off the tube?

A new study validates your mother's concerns about too much television — watching four or more hours a day increases you chance of dying by 46 percent, regardless of whether you smoke, exercise, or have high blood pressure or heart disease. The Australian researchers found that each hour you spend in front of the glowing screen increases your chance of dying from cardiovascular disease by 18 percent, or from any cause by 11 percent. Is this just another x-will-kill-you study, or is it time to turn off the TV? (Watch a report about whether TVs pose health risks)

TV kills — you were warned: This is bad news for couch potatoes, says Lia Steakley at the Stanford University Scope, but the Australian scientists found that TV kills you faster "regardless of if you are overweight or physically fit." That's not to say weight isn't a factor: a Stanford team similarly found that TV negatively impacts your health, but also that "overweight adults who cut their daily television time in half burned 120 more calories a day."

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