Obesity may be the most critical health challenge we face today.
In the United States almost 70 percent of us are considered to be overweight including almost one-third who qualify as obese. Obesity comes with a big price tag. A recent estimate found that the medical care costs of obesity-related conditions such as coronary artery disease, type-2 diabetes, stroke, sleep apnea and respiratory problems are $168 billion annually. While the causes of obesity are complex, there appear to be links to work stress, hours sitting in front of a television and caffeine.
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester looked at the causes of and solutions to obesity among employees at a manufacturing facility in upstate New York. In a preliminary evaluation of baseline data from 2,800 professional level male employees, researchers found the prevalence of obesity mirrored that in the general population. However, those in more stressful positions had almost a BMI unit more of weight than did those in less-demanding jobs.
The same study found that over 65 percent of these employees watched two or more hours of television a day. Many told the researchers that job stress tired them out and they looked forward to relaxing in front of the television when they returned home. For those who watched two to three hours of television a day, the probability of obesity increased by 150 percent.
This connection between TV time and obesity has also been observed in other research. For example, a study conducted by the University of Vermont studied the relationship between TV time and calorie expenditure for two groups of obese adults. One group had no limit to their TV time. The other was limited to 3 hours a day when a monitor attached to their set automatically turned it off.
Those who spent less time in front of their TV burned an average of 119 more calories daily which translated to weight loss of half a pound per week. These study participants didn’t suddenly start a vigorous exercise program as soon as their televisions went off. Instead, the authors suggest that since it takes so little energy to watch TV, just about any other activity burns more calories…
Read more: Natural News