Diabetes Risk Mounts By the Hour for Prediabetics Camping Before Television

Camping on the couch in front of the TV will up the risk of diabetes in high risk groups by the hour, a new study claims.

According to WebMD, a study from University of Pittsburgh has shown an increased diabetes risk of 3.4 percent with every extra hour people with prediabetes spend watching television. The study showed that the risk does not change or reduce with exercise or healthy diet. However researchers said those who seek to diabetes watched less television.

The study was based on data obtained from nearly 3,200 obese adults as part of the Diabetes Prevention Program between 1996 and 1999. Before the study, all participants spent 140 minutes a day watching TV. During the study, those participants who followed a healthy lifestyle to prevent diabetes type 2, reduced their TV watching by 22 minutes.

The study also showed that those taking medication to prevent diabetes fared no better than those who did not.

Researchers said that body's metabolism slows during long periods of sitting and people often tend to indulge in eating or binging when watching TV.

The study's findings are restricted to people grouped as high-risk for type 2 diabetes. Though lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle can increase risk over time in healthy people, the study only measured risk changes in people with clinically significant elevated risk.