Research: Limiting hours spent sitting, watching TV can lengthen life

New research co-authored by a Pennington Biomedical Research Center director shows a correlation between sedentary behavior and life expectancy that you may have already picked up on. Essentially, the research shows reducing the time you spend on your duff and in front of the television may lead to a longer life. Specifically, cutting down your TV time to less than two hours a day may extend your life by 1.4 years, the findings show. Also, restricting the amount of time you spend seated each day to less than three hours can tack on as many as two years to the average adult American's life. The new findings, co-authored by Peter Katzmarzyk, associate executive director for population science at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, are published in the online journal BMJ Open. "This study elevates the importance of sedentary behavior as a risk factor for premature mortality. The risks associated with sedentary behavior appear to be on par with the risks associated with smoking and obesity," Katzmarzyk says. You can access all of the details and the complete study here.

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