--- title: Sitting is Sedentary: What Binge Watching TV Does to Your Health description: Every hour spent sitting in front of the TV can boost your risk of diabetes canonical: https://time.com/3767458/tv-binge-watching-health/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-01T22:01:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:45.509Z article:section: Health og:title: This Is What Binge Watching TV Does to Your Health og:description: Every hour spent sitting in front of the TV can boost your risk of diabetes og:url: https://time.com/3767458/tv-binge-watching-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a463a394ba2f680/6987864855a8599b02a869b5/165567832.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: 165567832 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is What Binge Watching TV Does to Your Health twitter:description: Every hour spent sitting in front of the TV can boost your risk of diabetes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a463a394ba2f680/6987864855a8599b02a869b5/165567832.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is What Binge Watching TV Does to Your Health > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 10:01 PM UTC  Crying woman watching television Crying woman watching televisionCultura/Liam Norris—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 10:01 PM UTC It’s easy—and tempting—to settle in for a marathon session with your favorite TV show, but that indulgence may come back to haunt you. In a study of people at higher risk of developing diabetes, researchers say that every hour spent sitting can increase the risk of developing the metabolic disorder by 3.4%. For a day-long binge, that could be as much as a 30% higher risk. “With streaming TV, you can watch a program continuously; instead of watching just half an hour once day a week, you can watch a whole season in a day, so we expect to see increases in sitting to continue,” says Andrea Kriska, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh and senior author of the paper on the effects of TV on diabetes risk [in the journal _Diabetologia_](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/cederberg.zip). Kriska is part of the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, which found that people who spent more time sitting, whether in front of the TV or at work, were more likely to develop diabetes than those who sat less, regardless of how much they exercised. **MORE:** [Sitting Is Killing You](http://time.com/sitting/) The group started with the population of people at higher risk of developing diabetes who were enrolled in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Some were assigned to exercise at least 150 minutes at a moderate level each week and change their diet with the goal of losing 7% of their body weight. Others were given the diabetes drug metformin, and another group was given a placebo. In 2002, after more than three years, those who adopted the lifestyle changes lowered their risk of developing diabetes by 58%, compared to 31% for those taking the drug. More and more data [suggest](http://time.com/3672428/exercise-sitting/) that to reduce disease, it’s not just enough to exercise more; you have to sit, less too. The scientists wanted to see what role, if any, sitting played in this reduction. Did being more physically active lead to helping people be less sedentary? And did time spent sitting have any connection with the rate of diabetes? **MORE:** [Sitting Can Increase Your Risk of Cancer By Up to 66%](http://time.com/2884953/sitting-can-increase-your-risk-of-cancer-by-up-to-66/) “What we found was yes, and yes,” says Bonny Rockette-Wagner, from the department of epidemiology at Pittsburgh. “There is an independent effect of sitting behavior on diabetes incidence that does not have to do with physical activity. It’s an independent, additional effect.” The researchers asked the 3,232 people in group how much time they spent sitting at work and how much time they spent watching TV, as a proxy for their total sedentary time. They also asked them about their leisure time physical activity and measured their blood glucose levels. After three years, the lifestyle group spent fewer hours sitting than the metformin and placebo groups, despite the fact that sitting less was not a specific goal of the program. And the more time they spent off their chairs, the lower their risk of going on to develop diabetes. **MORE:** [An Hour of Exercise Can Make Up for a Day of Sitting Down](http://time.com/2967417/exercise-sitting-down-nhanes/) The results suggest that efforts to help high-risk people avoid diabetes should include a goal of sitting less. That’s what Kriska and Rockette-Wagner are starting to do in their community sessions in which they teach people about the Diabetes Prevention Program. Instead of focusing exclusively on the target of 150 minutes of exercise each week, they’re asking people to think about sitting less, starting by spending a few minutes fewer on the couch each day and building up to becoming more active. **MORE:** [Sitting All Day Isn’t As Bad If You Do This](http://time.com/2977994/sitting-all-day-isnt-as-bad-if-you-do-this/) The researchers admit that simply sitting less won’t replace being physically active, but after so much focus on getting sedentary people to move, getting them to think about sitting less may be just as productive. ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. 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