Death by TV?

A majority of adults are becoming more sedentary due to modern-day electronic conveniences.  Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, from the University of Navarra (Spain), and colleagues assessed 13,284 young and healthy Spanish university graduates (average age 37 years) to determine the association between three types of sedentary behaviors and risk of death from all causes: television viewing time, computer time and driving time. The participants were followed for a median 8.2 years, over which 97 deaths occurred (19 deaths from cardiovascular causes, 46 from cancer and 32 from other causes).  Data analysis revealed that the risk of death was twofold higher for participants who reported watching three or more hours of TV a day, as compared to those watching one or less hours. This twofold higher risk was also apparent after accounting for a wide array of other variables related to a higher risk of death.  Observing that: “Television viewing was directly associated with all‐cause mortality,” the study authors write that: “computer use and time spent driving were not significantly associated with higher mortality.”