June 7, 2007 – Children with type 1 diabetes who spend a lot of time watching television would have difficulty controlling their blood sugar, Norwegian researchers say.
For three months, they studied the correlation between the number of hours spent in front of the television per day and the blood sugar level in 538 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
According to their results, for every hour of additional television viewing, blood glucose levels increased, regardless of age, disease chronicity and body mass index.
For example, in children who watched less than an hour of television per day, the level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was 8.2%. This proportion rose to 8.8% among subjects who spent three to four hours in front of the television daily, and to 9.5% among those who watched more than four hours of television daily.
These results can be explained by a number of factors. Prolonged television viewing is associated with sedentary habits, a lack of physical activity and unbalanced meals due to the addition of unnecessary snacks. All of these factors are believed to help increase blood glucose levels.
The researchers also analyzed hours spent in front of the computer screen, but found no correlation with blood sugar levels.
Emmanuelle Bergeron – PasseportSanté.net
1.Margeirsdottir HD, Larsen JR, et al. Strong association between time watching television and blood glucose control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, Diabetes Care. 2007 June; 30 (6): 1567-70. Epub 2007 Mar 19.
