A number of reports in recent years show that sitting too much each day is a true killer. The latest one is published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It says that if you are over 50 and you sit watching TV for seven hours per day, your risk of death goes up significantly due to inactivity.

The research was done at the National Cancer Institute and involved 240,819 adults aged 50 to 71. It followed the group for 8.5 years, comparing mortality to time spent in front of the TV. For those watching seven or more hours of TV per day, compared to those watching less than one hour, the risk of death from any cause increased by 61 percent. Increased risk for cardiovascular mortality was 85 percent, whereas cancer was 22 percent.

Even if a person exercised for seven hours per week, it was not enough to offset the lengthy couch potato experience, as the all-cause morality rate in that group remained high at 47 percent.

Our bodies are made to be used. This is yet another example of use it or lose it.