Dr Prem Global Healthcare Logo

Couch potato teens at higher risk of high blood pressure

television viewing 64
We all know that sedentary lifestyle is bound to result in several life-threatening health problems like high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, etc. Pondering over the same issue a new study by the researchers, which tracked about 4,500 American adolescents, has concluded that teenagers who spend a lot of time sitting in front of the television are more likely to have higher blood pressure no matter what is their body weight.

Telling more about this study, study leader Nicolas Stettler, M.D., M.S.C.E., a pediatric nutrition specialist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said:

This is the first research to show a direct and independent connection between TV watching and higher blood pressure among adolescents.

May be this is the first study, showing a direct and independent connection between TV watching and higher blood pressure among adolescents but it is a well known concept that where physical activity lowers blood pressure in both adults and children, at the same time sedentary lifestyle does just the opposite.

Actually, in the recent years sedentary lifestyle has emerged not as a problem of a few countries but as a world problem. Sedentary lifestyle is a major underlying cause of death, disease and disability all round the world. According to an estimate, approximately 2 million deaths every year are attributable to physical inactivity.

This is quite a serious issue that needs to be addressed quite effectively. As far as teens and kids are concerned they should be encouraged to participate in more and more physical activities and at the same time parents should impose some restriction on kids’ television watching. According to experts kids should not be allowed to watch television for more than one hour in a day because excessive television watching where promotes sedentary lifestyle at the same time it throw a negative impact on kid’s mental development.

Image credit: HCPL

Via: Science Daily

Recent Articles:

Scroll to Top