Television: Bad news for adults over 50

While scientists are often the target of children watching a lot of television, there seems to be no shortage of risks for parents and grandparents doing something similar.

People over the age of 50, who watch more than three and a half hours of television, experience a faster decline in their memory skills, according to a new British scientific study.

Researchers at University College London (UCL), led by Dr. Daisy Fancourt, published in the journal Scientific Reports, studied 3.662 people over the age of 50 (mean age 67).

It was found that those who watched an average of more than 3,5 hours of television every day, after six years, showed worse memory performance in the relevant tests. Thus, those who watched less than three and a half hours a day had an average of 4% to 5% worse memory after six years, while the reduction reached 8% to 10% for those who watched more than three and a half hours.

Scientists estimate that watching TV reduces the valuable time people could devote to other activities, such as reading, which helps maintain memory.

Less passive and more interactive activities in front of a screen, such as using the internet and playing video games, can bring more cognitive benefits (eg improved problem-solving ability) than just sitting and watching TV. broadcast.

"While television can also offer educational benefits such as watching documentaries or being a way to relieve stress, new findings show that adults over 50 will do well to try to balance watching television with other more active activities, "said Dr Fankort, according to Britain's Telegraph.

He said television could be another risk factor for dementia, although he emphasized that more research was needed to confirm this.

Source: KYPE