I’ve just spied a press statement from the British Heart Foundation that comments on a study I haven’t come across yet (it’s been written by researchers working for the Medical Research Council and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology). The study suggests that the more time we spend watching TV, the bigger our risk of developing heart disease.
Oh really? You can see the headlines now, can’t you? Watching TV can kill you, or words to that effect. What utter nonsense. It’s not the watching of TV that makes us more likely to develop heart disease, it’s the fact that we don’t do any exercise during the rest of the day – or that we scoff ourselves stupid with TV snacks and beers while watching the footie.
But no. Apparently, according to the study, for every hour we spend watching telly our increase for heart disease increases significantly. Come on, people. TV isn’t the enemy. We do that job perfectly well ourselves without any external help.
So thank goodness for a bit of sense coming from Fotini Rozakeas, a cardiac nurse at the BHF, who said: “People can – and should – enjoy watching their favourite TV programmes or the World Cup without becoming couch potatoes by doing at least 30 minutes physical activity five times a week.”
In other words, if you’re getting the right amount of exercise it shouldn’t – in theory – matter how much telly you watch. At least that’s the idea I’m hanging on to. Now where did I put that TV guide…?