Since the world is in a health crisis, here is something to thinking about during your quarantine netflix binge...

In epidemiological studies, TV watching has a huge negative effect on health:

- Adults age fifty to seventy-one who watch the most television each day have a 61 percent higher risk of dying than those who watch the least, even after adjustment for amount of exercise. The most vigorous athletes, who exercise more than an hour per day, still have a 47 percent higher risk of dying with greater television viewing.*

- An Australian study found that every hour spent watching TV reduces life expectancy by twenty-two minutes.**

*Matthews, C. E. et al., “Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors and cause-specific mortality in US adults,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 95, no. 2 (February 2012): 437–45, http://pmid.us/22218159. A hat tip to Gretchen Reynolds, “Don’t just sit there,” The New York Times, April 28, 2012, www.nytimes.com/…/29/sunday-review/stand-up-for-fitness.html, and Dan Pardi, “Buy 1, get 2 free!” Dan’s Plan, blog, May 4, 2012, www.dansplan.com/blog/1501-buy-1-get-2-free.

** Veerman, J. L. et al., “Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: A life table analysis,” British Journal of Sports Medicine (August 15, 2011), http://pmid.us/21844603. A hat tip to Gretchen Reynolds, “Don’t just sit there,” The New York Times, April 28, 2012, www.nytimes.com/…/29/sunday-review/stand-up-for-fitness.html, and Dan Pardi, “Buy 1, get 2 free!” Dan’s Plan, blog, May 4, 2012, www.dansplan.com/blog/1501-buy-1-get-2-free.)