Replacing time in front of the TV with exercise may not be the most enjoyable thing to do, but new research suggests it could significantly increase your chances of healthy aging.
“Our takeaway is that replacing television time with light exercise, moderate-to-vigorous exercise, and sleep (for sleep-deprived participants) is beneficial for healthy aging,” said Dr. Morin Wang, associate professor of medicine at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from more than 45,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, who were 50 years of age or older in 1992 and had no chronic diseases at the time of the study’s start.
The researchers followed the participants for 20 years, collecting information on how much time they spent sitting at work and at home, watching TV, standing and walking, etc. This data was compared to indicators of healthy aging.
Healthy ageing was defined as living to at least age 70, being free of major chronic diseases, and maintaining at least four domains of health, including no impairments in memory, physical health, or mental health.
The study found that for every two hours of television viewing, the chances of healthy retirement decreased by 12%. Conversely, two additional hours of light physical activity at work increased the chances of healthy retirement by 6%.
Replacing one hour of television viewing with light physical activity, either at home or at work, has been shown to improve the chances of healthy ageing, highlighting the benefits of an active lifestyle.
“More television viewing time decreased the likelihood of healthy aging, whereas more LPA (light physical activity) and MVPA (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) or sleep increased the likelihood of healthy aging,” the authors wrote.
