To age well, switch off the TV and get active or get a little more sleep

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-06-12 01:00

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The more time you spend glued to the gogglebox, the less likely you are to age healthily, but swapping just one hour of TV time per day for walking or standing could make a difference, according to a US and Austrian study of 45,176 US women followed up for 20 years. More TV time was linked with a lower chance of good health in older age, with each additional two hours per day linked with a 12% reduced likelihood of good health, even when the women's vigorous exercise levels were considered. However, the researchers found swapping out just one daily hour of TV time for light activity increased the chances of good health later, and each increase in light activity of two hours per day improved the chances of healthy aging by 6%. In addition, for women who slept for seven hours a day or less, swapping TV time for more sleep also increased women's chances of healthy aging.

Media release

From: JAMA

Sedentary Behaviors, Light-Intensity Physical Activity, and Healthy Aging

About The Study: In this cohort study, longer television watching time decreased odds of healthy aging, whereas light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) increased odds of healthy aging and replacing sitting watching television with LPA or MVPA, or with sleep in those who slept 7 hours per day or less, was associated with increased odds of healthy aging, providing evidence for rearranging 24-hour behavior to promote overall health.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA

Funder: Dr Shi was supported by grants from the National Social Science Foundation Project of China (grant No. 21BRK021) and the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (grant No. 21NDJC013Z). Dr Huang was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; grant No. K01HL143034). The Nurses’ Health Study was supported by a grant from the NIH (grant No. UM1CA186107).

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