Nowadays with the culture of the Netflix and Hulu all-nighter, it’s safe to say that most TV show aficionados have tried binge-watching TV show at some point in their life. While it may seem harmless, binge-watching could be hurting your health.
Here are five ways how binge-watching TV show could be bad for you.
1. It wrecks your sleep. Nowadays with the culture of the Netflix and Hulu all-nighter, watching TV show before bed is standard in many homes. As a result you’re more likely to stay up late during a TV marathon. By staying up late, you’re stressing your body a lot which leads to to poorer sleep quality and more fatigue.
2. Binge-watching affects your eating habits. Those who watch a lot of TV are more likely to sit in the same spot and don’t get enough exercise. On top of that, that binge-watching can lead to mindless eating, thereby consuming hundreds more unnecessary and damaging calories.
3. Watching too much of TV dumbs you. A 2016 research has also suggested a connection between binge viewing and intelligence. Watch too much of TV (more than 3 hours per day) with poorer performance in cognitive tests — an effect that was almost doubled when TV viewing was paired with low physical activity.
4. Binge viewing may be sign of depression. According to a study carried out by University of Texas, the more lonely and depressed people were, the more likely they were to binge-watch TV. The study found that those who feel more depressed tend to watch more programs. That’s not to say binge viewing is the source of loneliness and depression, though it’s certainly a social pastime.
5. Marathon TV sessions could shorten your life. A study published in 2017 by Australian researchers found that those who watched TV between 2 to four 4 hours a day had a 54% higher risk of an inflammatory-related death, and those who watched more than 4 hours a day had double the risk of dying than those who watched for 2 hours. And in general, every extra hour of TV viewing a day increases your risk of an inflammatory-related death by 12 percent.
