《英国运动医学杂志》网络版日前刊登一份研究报告称，平均每天看电视６小时的人，预期寿命可能要缩短５年左右。
撰写报告的澳大利亚昆士兰大学研究人员说，无论在发达国家，还是发展中国家，经常看电视可能已像抽烟和肥胖那样，成为一种“公共健康问题”。
经常看电视属于一种久坐不动的生活方式，这种生活方式与多种高死亡风险相关，尤其是心脏病发作或中风。但此前还从未有研究评估过看电视与预期寿命之间的关联。
研究人员为此在澳大利亚分析了１．１万名２５岁以上成年人的生活方式，结果发现，每看电视一小时，要减寿２２分钟。把各种死亡因素考虑在内，一个人平均每天看电视６小时，将减寿约５年。
此前曾有研究表明，烟民的预期寿命比非烟民平均短约４年，每抽一支烟，减寿约１１分钟。这就是说，每抽一支烟，每看半小时电视，其对寿命的危害大致相当。
目前，美国和澳大利亚都建议，儿童每天看电视的时间不要超过２个小时。但研究人员表示，新研究说明成年人也“需要控制看电视的时间”。
生物探索推荐英文论文摘要：
Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: a life table analysis
Abstract
Background Prolonged television (TV) viewing time is unfavourably associated with mortality outcomes, particularly for cardiovascular disease, but the impact on life expectancy has not been quantified. The authors estimate the extent to which TV viewing time reduces life expectancy in Australia, 2008.
Methods The authors constructed a life table model that incorporates a previously reported mortality risk associated with TV time. Data were from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, a national population-based observational survey that started in 1999–2000. The authors modelled impacts of changes in population average TV viewing time on life expectancy at birth.
Results The amount of TV viewed in Australia in 2008 reduced life expectancy at birth by 1.8 years (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 8.4 days to 3.7 years) for men and 1.5 years (95% UI: 6.8 days to 3.1 years) for women. Compared with persons who watch no TV, those who spend a lifetime average of 6 h/day watching TV can expect to live 4.8 years (95% UI: 11 days to 10.4 years) less. On average, every single hour of TV viewed after the age of 25 reduces the viewer's life expectancy by 21.8 (95% UI: 0.3–44.7) min. This study is limited by the low precision with which the relationship between TV viewing time and mortality is currently known.
Conclusions TV viewing time may be associated with a loss of life that is comparable to other major chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity.
