“The Simpsons” just kicked off its 23rd season and the animated series shows no signs of slowing down. Created in 1989 by Matt Groening, the Simpsons were originally animated shorts aired on the Tracey Ullman Show, but quickly elevated in popularity. The entire 90s were practically synonymous with the Simpsons as the family spawned comic books, t-shirts, video games and toys. As the series approaches its 500th episode, there is even talks of the Simpsons having an entire channel dedicated to them. While this may give depth to Matt Groening’s already deep pockets, what could the effects of watching 24 consecutive hours of the Simpsons have for you?
Three Consequences of Watching Too Much TV
1. Diabetes: Prolonged television watching could increase your chance of getting Type 2 diabetes. According to a recent research review, more than three hours of television watching a day may put you at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. “While the associations between time spent viewing TV and risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease were linear, the risk of all-cause mortality appeared to increase with TV viewing duration of greater than three hours per day.”
2. Weight Gain: Another new study suggests that all that time in front of the tube is becoming a health concern. Being a television-watching couch potato may be partially to blame for weight gain, high blood pressure and heart disease risk. The study collected information from thousands of Australians about their health and lifestyles, then collected the same data from these subjects five years later in order to identify any changes. For both men and women, people who increased their TV viewing similarly increased their waistlines. Too much television has the potential to give you a waistline that would make Homer Simpson envious.
3. Headaches and Back Pain: Recent
research suggests that spending an excessive amount of time on screen-based activities may be bad for your back. The results show a consistent association between time spent on screen-based activities and incidences of headache and backache among the youths.
Time to shut off the tube and get a hobby. You could take a lesson from Bart Simpson and start skateboarding, or be like Lisa and learn the baritone saxophone.