Too Much TV (Sitting) is Bad News

After a trip to the gym, many of us like to hunker down on the couch and enjoy an hour or four of television. We even like doing that if we’ve missed the gym, but at least if we get a good sweat we feel okay with taking it easy after a long day.

But a new study has some bad news when it comes to television and blood clots, even if you are a consistent gym-goer.

Researchers from the University of Vermont gave questionnaires to 15,000 people, mostly middle-aged, and then followed up twice over the course of 20 years. The survey was about their TV viewing habits, but they also looked at how many of these people were diagnosed with blood clots in their legs, arms, pelvis or lungs.

And those who watched TV very often were 71% more likely to develop a blood clot compared to those who rarely watched TV or didn’t watch it at all. And before you think it’s just because their obese, check out the quote from this article:

The link between TV viewing and blood clots could be partially explained by obesity, say the researchers. Sitting more and moving less can lead to weight gain, they say, and excess weight is a risk factor for blood clots. But adjustments in the analysis found that obesity could only account for about 25% of the increased risk, suggesting that other factors also play a role.

So what does this mean? Move around. If you realize that you have been sitting in the same spot on the couch for the last three hours then you are the people targeted by this study. Get up, get moving, and if you have to watch TV, see if you can’t get a little activity in at the same time. And – for the desk jockeys – set a timer to get out of your chair every 20 minutes to get a drink, stretch or stroll around the office.

-Shane M.