Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsResearchHealth ConsequencesHow To Break the Habit
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Research
Health Consequences
How To Break the Habit
The streaming era has changed everything about the way people view television. You no longer have to wait for a new episode of your favorite show because many entertainment companies are releasing entire seasons and series of shows at once. This has lead to a new concept calledbinge-watching.
Binge-watching—the act of streaming many television episodes in one sitting—is become more and more common with all the streaming options available to consumers, including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video, among others. You can stream these services on your television or on another electronic device, such as a laptop, tablet, or cell phone.
But as great as all these options might sound, health experts warn that because people are replacing time once spent exercising, socializing, and sleeping, they are increasing their risk for many serious health conditions, includingcardiovascular disease (heart disease),depression,sleep problems, and behavioral addictions.
LaylaBird/Getty Images.
Binge-watching has become common behavior. In fact, a 2018 poll found that 60% of American adults who use on-demand streaming services binge watch.Percentages are higher with younger audiences, with 73% of 18 to 29-year-olds binge-watching at least once a week.
Binge-watching behavior has health consequences and researchers from Arizona State University were determined to figure out what exactly these might be. Their study results are published in the August 2020 journalBMC Public Health.Here, they sent out an 18-question survey to 926 adults who had a television and at least one more device they used to stream television shows.
Researchers wanted to know how much time people were spending on their devices, their weight, what their diets looked like, how much sleep they got and the quality of that sleep, how much stress they incurred day-to-day, and their physical activity levels, and binge-watching habits.
What the researchers found was the heaviest screen time watchers were averaging about 17.5 hours per day across all devices. These users also reported the least healthful diets and poorest health outcomes in comparison to those who were moderate or light screen users.
The researchers also noted that heavy screen time habits can lead to unhealthy diet patterns like frequent fast-food consumption and eating family meals in front of a television. Heavy screen time use was also associated with perceived stress.
Arizona State University researchers concluded poor diet and negative health consequences would become more evident as viewing time increased.They also felt more research was needed to better understand what types of screen-related behaviors might affect health behaviors and outcomes.
Potential Health Consequences
Over time, binge-watching may harm your health in ways you may not expect. Among the concerns researchers have raised are decreased physical activity, sleep problems and fatigue,blood clots, heart problems, poor diet, social isolation, behavioral addiction, and cognitive decline.
What Happens to the Body After Sitting Down for Too Long?
Physical Inactivity
According to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), a mostly sedentary lifestyle is causally linked to a number of poor health outcomes, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, strokes, excessive weight gain, and mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
The more sedentary you are, the higher your risks are for these conditions. A sedentary lifestyle can also increase your risk of premature death.
A study reported in April 2020 in theInternational Journal of Environmental Researchsuggested a comparison between active sitting, such as working at a computer at a desk, and nonactive sitting like watching television.Non-active sitting, as the researchers suggest, might be linked to up to a 25% higherbody mass index (BMI)and body fat in younger adults.
The connection between BMI and body fat wasn’t as high with active sitting. And here, researchers stressed the importance of reallocating sedentary time to active time in order to reduce the risk for conditions associated with inactive sitting.
How to Fix a Sedentary Lifestyle
An Unhealthy Diet
Binge-watching is also linked to unhealthy diet habits, according to researchers from the University of Michigan. At the 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (2017), researchers discussed the link between binge-watching and poor lifestyle choices.
Here, they noted that binge-watching encouraged foregoing sleep, consumption of unhealthy meals, unhealthy snacking, and sedentary behavior.
A study reported in March 2020 in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutritionassociated television watching with distraction eating.And distraction eating, according to the researchers, leads to overeating and weight gain.
Distraction eating usually involves food choices that are not the healthiest and may include things like junk foods, sugary beverages, and alcoholic drinks.
When people are eating this way daily or nightly, this starts to add up, eventually causing weight gain and increased risk for related health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Sleep Problems and Fatigue
You need sleep because it plays an important role in your mental and physical health and your quality of life. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), sleep is necessary for proper brain function, maintaining physical health, and promoting healthy growth and development in children and teens.
Sleep deficiency can lead to serious mental and physical health problems, injuries, loss of productivity, and a higher risk for early death.
An August 2017 report in theJournal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, finds binge-watching is connected to poorer sleep quality, increased fatigue, andinsomniasymptoms.Here, the researchers found a state of engagement while binge-watching doesn’t allow the brain to shut itself down.
As a result, it takes longer to fall asleep, and if you are falling asleep closer to morning and not getting the amount of sleep your body needs, the body unable to do necessary restoration and repair work.
Blood Clots
Hours you spend binge-watching your favorite series might feel great, but your blood vessels might not agree. In a 2018 study reported in theJournal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, researchers found prolonged sitting for binge-watching is similar to prolonged sedentary behavior for long flights or during illness—it can increase the risk fordeep-vein thrombosis(DVT).
DVT is a blood clot in the leg that can be fatal if it travels to the heart or lungs.
What Is Deep Vein Thrombosis?
Heart Health
Sitting for long periods can affect your heart health, and certain activities might be worse than others.
Researchers found that excessive television viewing was associated with a higher risk forcardiovascular disease(CVD) events andall-cause mortality(death rate from all causes) while occupational sitting wasn’t associated with either outcome.
Social Isolation
People who binge-watch tend to do so in solitude and researchers believe the more people binge-watch the more they isolate themselves. According to a report in the December 2017 issue of theJournal of Behavioral Addictions,links exist between social isolation, binge-watching, and poor mental health outcomes.
Another study—this one from 2015 out of the University of Texas Austin—found people who are lonely and depressed were more likely to binge-watch, and the lonelier and more depressed someone is, the more binge-watching they will do.
Binge-watching among the study group was found to be a way to manage negative feelings. and those who struggled with self-regulation were more likely to binge-watch. The researchers suggested that binge-watching was particularly concerning here because the effects of watching too much television while dealing with feelings of loneliness and depression could lead to physicalfatigue, obesity, and other serious health problems.
They further noted that binge-watching could affect work responsibilities and personal relationships because it could cause people to neglect these things.
Behavioral Addictions
Binge-watching might be considered a behavioral addiction. Having a behavioral addiction means you are dependent on and crave a particular behavior. Behavioral addictions can include anything from gambling to sex and videogames and yes, even, binge-watching.
According to a 2017 report in theJournal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, binge-watching may affect the pleasure centers of the brain in some people in the same way that other addictions would. Binge-watching might give a sense of satisfaction causing a person to overindulge to the point that binge-watching affects daily activities and commitments, including work and school.
According to the review’s authors, people who spend a lot of time watching television can experience various role, social, and sedentary physical consequences when their viewing is not under control. And as with other addictions, binge-watching isn’t their only addiction. Here, the review’s authors suggest this evidence is an indication of a credible need for prevention and treatment approaches to television addiction.
Cognitive Decline
If you are spending hours binge-watching, you may want to consider the effect this may have on your brain health. A study reported in 2019 in the journalScientific Reportssuggests binge-watching could lead to cognitive decline down the road.
The best way to reduce the effects of binge-watching is to make television watching an occasional pleasure and not an everyday thing. Some ways to break this habit include:
A Word From Verywell
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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