A recent British study provides solid evidence that frequent TV viewing can lead to excess weight gain. It also shows your TV-viewing habits as a teenager can influence your body shape in mid-life.
Results show those who watched TV “often” when they were 16 gained weight more quickly until they were 45. Watching TV at age 11 showed no effect on weight gain according to body mass index (BMI) in males, but girls who watched TV “often” at 11 were heavier at 33 and gained weight more quickly between ages 23 and 45 than girls who watched TV less often.
TV viewing was also shown to be linked to waist size. Participants who watched TV 5 times per week at 23 had a higher waist-to-hip ratio at 45 than those who had watched TV less often. A similar relationship was found between current TV viewing and current waist-to-hip ratio.
Researchers studied the TV viewing habits of more than 11,000 British participants born in the same week of same year. They correlated that to their BMI at 16, 23, 33 and 45 years old and their waist-to-hip ratio at 45 years old.
They concluded weight gain according to BMI is directly influenced by how often a person watches TV in adolescence and early adulthood, especially in women.
SOURCE: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008;62:1355-1363