Television-viewing time positively associated with a number of metabolic risk variables
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The dose-response associations of television-viewing time with continuous metabolic risk variables were examined among 2,031 men and 2,033 women from the 1999-2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study, meeting the public health guideline for the minimum health-enhancing levels of physical activity. Study participants were without clinically diagnosed diabetes or heart disease and reported at least 2.5 h per week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. Cross-sectional associations of metabolic variables with quartiles and daily hours of self-reported television-viewing time were investigated separately for men and women. Television-time was detrimentally linked, in a dose-response manner, to waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and 2-h plasma glucose in both genders, and to fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and HDL-C in women, the associations being stronger in women than in men. Although waist circumference attenuated these associations, they remained statistically significant for 2-h plasma glucose in men and women, and for triglycerides and HDL-C in women. In conclusion, self-reported television-viewing time appears to be adversely associated with a number of metabolic risk variables in a study population meeting the public health guidelines for minimal health-enhancing levels of physical activity.
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