TV watching bigger health hazard than smoking

Adults watching around six hours of TV every day are running the risk of reducing their life expectancy by five years.

Research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine finds TV watching a bigger health hazards than smoking or lack of exercise.

The researchers looked at data from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) and Australian national population and mortality figures for 2008.

They found that Australian adults aged 25 years and older reduced their life expectancy by 22 minutes for every single hour of TV they watched.