Replacing binge watching with physical activity or sleep promotes healthy ageing

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 13, 2024 18:22 IST

Replacing time spent in front of the TV with physical activity may not be the most exciting trade, but it significantly improves the chances of healthy ageing, according to a recent study.

"Our take-home message is that replacing TV time with light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and sleep (for participants with inadequate sleep) is beneficial to healthy ageing," said Dr Molin Wang, senior study author and associate professor of medicine at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, analysed data from over 45,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study. These participants were 50 or older in 1992 and free of chronic diseases at the start.

Researchers tracked the participants for 20 years, gathering information on their time spent sitting at work, home, and watching television, as well as their hours standing or walking. This data was compared with metrics of healthy ageing.

Healthy ageing was defined as living to at least 70 years old and maintaining at least four healthy domains, including the absence of major chronic diseases and no impairment in memory, physical health, and mental health.

The study revealed that each additional two hours spent watching TV was associated with a 12% decrease in the likelihood of ageing healthily. Conversely, adding two hours of light physical activity at work increased the odds of healthy ageing by 6%.

Replacing one hour of TV time with light physical activity, whether at home or work, was associated with improved chances of healthy ageing, underscoring the benefits of an active lifestyle.

"Longer television watching time decreased odds of healthy ageing, whereas LPA (light-intensity physical activity) and MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) or sleep increased odds of healthy ageing," the authors wrote.