Does Watching TV Make You Gain Weight?

Watching television can be a stress-reliever to most of us, a pastime to others and a source of information to people who are interested in current affairs. Although watching TV is a popular mode of entertainment, it also has several health effects to people of different ages.

In a research by the Harvard Medical School on 30-minute activities that burn calories, a 125-pound person who watches TV for 30 minutes can lose about 23 calories. In addition, people weighing 155 pounds and 185 pounds can lose 28 and 33 calories respectively. Because of this study, many people who love watching TV would think that they are doing something good to their health just by watching their favourite shows.

Is It All Good?

Even though watching TV can be a good way to burn calories, you should also consider other health effects from prolonged exposures to television. Even if you burn calories by sitting and staring at your TV screen, watching TV will most likely tempt you to grab some snacks or sweets that will end up gaining you weight in the long run. In addition, being sedentary, meaning, you don't have any regular physical activities, can also have its adverse effects on your health.

In fact, watching TV has been linked to the increase in obesity rate in recent decades. Several studies show that watching television over a prolonged period is an independent factor in obesity. These studies showed that the resting metabolic rate decreases as the time of exposure to television increases.

Watching television may tempt you to eat more by influencing your brain with what you see on the TV screen, which can result in weight gain. Experiments show that people get distracted in this manner and tend to salivate unnaturally and consume more food even though the body already knows that you have eaten enough.

Hitting Two Birds with One Stone

Because of these effects, it is strongly advised to keep the number of hours in front of the television in moderation. You can still use this activity to burn some calories once in a while but you should not completely rely on it. Or perhaps, try some physical activities in front of the television – treadmill or bike exercise, or anything you can think of. That way, you get to enjoy your TV time whilst doing something positive for your health.