Spending Long Hours on TV Is Bad For Older Adults Memory

Most of us are concern about children watching television for long hours daily. Sure, children spending much time in front of a TV screen, or in fact, any sort of digital screen is terrible for them.

However, a new study confirms, it is not only children who suffer the adverse effects of long hours of TV but older adults, as well. On children, spending long hours on a television screen hinders their learning development and bad for their heart health.

In one study, researchers found that children overexposed to screens including both TV and smartphones delay developmental skills. Additionally, spending long hours in front of a digital screen has been linked to an epidemic of global blindness.

Unfortunately, older adults those above 50 years old also suffer from the adverse effect of watching TV for long hours. It’s not long hours in which the outcome might be realized.

Researchers suggest¹ that spending over three and a half hours in front of a television screen daily is related to cognitive decline.

Overall our results provide preliminary data to suggest that television viewing for more than 3.5 hours per day is related to cognitive decline.

Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 2851 (2019)

It’s Time To Do Something

Although this study is correlational, its findings and the researchers’ suggestions are worth considering. Three and a half hours a day is not a long time after all.

One could easily consume it with his or her favorite programs including the news and advertisements. Of course, when the researchers say over 3.5 hours a day, it does not mean excluding the nonsense.

With the addictive effect of screens, it is easy to consume that 3.5-hour threshold.

What To Do To Avoid The Bad Consequences?

Well, it’s obvious, avoid watching TV that long. However, for most people, taking a recreation like watching TV can be difficult because it is now a habit.

However, having something to replace something that is being taken can be helpful. While reducing the amount of screen time significantly, think of something in which the brain gets busy. 

Perhaps, one of the best things to keep the brain busy is doing exercise. Instead of watching TV, reading books can be helpful. Moreover, scheduling daily activity makes it even enjoyable.

Switching a sedentary lifestyle into an active routine is a better choice. Engaging in regular exercise has been proven helpful in boosting memory and slows down aging.

For those who want to maintain muscle mass, weight lifting is an excellent addition to a regular exercise regimen for seniors.

Always Make Time To Exercise

Many people will say they don’t have time to exercise, and yet they have time to spend hours on TV.

Does this sounds familiar to you? Many people today and unfortunately, including older adults choose to have a sedentary lifestyle instead of an active one.

Exercise is not difficult and exhaustive. It is not even a requirement to have a gym membership to start being active physically.

Simple exercises involving common movements like walking, jogging, and running are good starting point.

Spending 30-minutes or more a day outdoors walking, or running has to particular benefits; one, you exercise yourself and two, sun exposure that has many health benefits including Vitamin D.

The key is to start moving. Watching TV involves sitting, and science already reveal that long hours of sitting is just as terrible as smoking.

So, stay active physically. A moderate to vigorous physical activity has been helpful for achieving good health and longevity.