Well, every hour of TV after the age of 25 can, according to the University of Queensland. Researchers studied a cross-section of 11,000 Aussies who were at least 25 in 2000, and checked that data against national mortality figures for 2008. They estimate that Aussies aged over 25 spent 9.8 billion hours in front of the TV — equal to 286,000 years of life that ended prematurely.
Yeah, yeah. My TV is killing me. Call me a dick, but yeah…feels like navel gazing. Happily though, 1 hour of TV apparently has the same effect as smoking 2 cigarettes. Says the AFP:
In an extreme case, someone who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching TV — in the top one percent of the viewing population — can expect to live 4.8 years less than someone who does not watch TV, according to their calculation.
The study from the School of Population Health has just been published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine. It does sound kind of familiar, though. See: Your TV Is Trying To Kill You Slowly.
Now excuse me, I need a smoke. Filthy habit.