Researchers say watching Television (TV) for no more than one hour a day may lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and other blood vessel diseases, otherwise known as Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD).

They say this occurs among people with varying levels of genetic risk for Type 2 diabetes.

This is contained in a report published in the Journal of the American Heart Association entitled: ‘’Genetic Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes, Television Viewing, and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk.’’

The researchers, led by Mengyao Wang, were drawn from School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong and Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge.

Experts said that ASCVD is caused by plaque build-up in arterial walls and refers to conditions that include heart disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease.

Peripheral artery disease narrows arteries, reduces blood flow to the arms or legs.

These conditions may lead to severe consequences, such as compromised quality of life, bypass surgeries, stenting procedures (small mesh tube insertion into blocked artery), amputations and premature death.

The researchers found that about 21 per cent of respondents reported watching TV one hour or less a day, while 79 per cent reported two or more hours per day of TV-watching time.

They found that compared to watching TV for one hour or less daily, spending two hours or more daily in front of the TV was associated with a 12 per cent higher risk of ASCVD.

However, this is regardless of genetic risk for Type 2 diabetes.

Their evaluations indicated that participants with medium and high Type 2 diabetes genetic risk did not have higher risk of developing ASCVDs as long as TV viewing was limited to one hour or less daily.

Reacting to the report, Damon Swift said: “these findings add to the evidence that sitting time may represent a potential intervention tool to improve health in people in general and specifically for people with high risk for Type 2 diabetes

“This is especially important because people with Type 2 diabetes are at heightened risk for cardiovascular disease compared to those who do not have diabetes.”

“Targeted interventions could help people who sit for long periods of time in their homes or at their workplaces’’, said Swift.

Swift is the Chair, American Heart Association’s Physical Activity Committee and an Associate Professor at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The study was based on samples of 346,916 white British individuals from UK biobank.

They had weighted polygenic risk score for Type 2 diabetes, calculated on the basis of 138 genetic variants associated with Type 2 diabetes.

Time spent watching TV among the sample population was self-reported and categorised into less than 1 hour a day and greater than 2 hours a day.

A polygenic risk score tells how somebody’s disease risk compares to others with a different genetic make up.

Meanwhile, Mengyao and the research team acknowledged that the study was limited by some variables, including television viewing time which was based on self‐reported information.

“There is a possibility of reporting bias, such as false reporting or underestimation of television viewing time due to social desirability’’, they said.(NAN)