Get off the couch & turn off the TV!

All the technological advances have made many tasks easier, faster and less expensive. Our bodies have also suffered with the increased use of laptops, tablets, smartphones and smart TVs. Prolonged sitting has been shown to have many detrimental impacts on the body. On the contrary, physical activity has been shown to have many beneficial impacts on the body. One: bad. The other: good. The study below shows high levels of moderate activity (60-75 mins per day) eliminate the increased risk of death seen with high sitting times. However, interestingly enough the same level of physical activity only reduces and does not eliminate the risk associated with high TV viewing times! Moral of the story: Get off the couch and turn off the TV!

Ekeland U, et al. Lancet. 'Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonized meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men an women'. Epub 2016 Jul 28. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/27475271