Couch Potatoes found to Have Higher Risk for Depression?

It is now confirmed, via a long-term study of American women, that those who spend a lot of time in front of TV and engage in less exercise are at higher risk of having depression compared to those who exercise more and watch TV less. Depressions, along with other mental illnesses, are on their highest rates in the U.S today with most cases found among young people aged 18 to 25 years old.

In the study, researchers investigated records of women who took part in the Nurse’s Health Study which provided questionnaires to women every two years from 1992 to 2000. The participants selected should have no diagnosis of depression in 1996, and they numbered to more than 49,000 individuals.

The questionnaires contained questions that asked about level of physical activity and its duration (average number of minutes per day). In addition, the participants were asked about their television habits in 1992 regarding how many hours per week spent.

The women were followed-up from 1996 to 2006 for depression and use of anti-depressants. Among the 49,000 individuals selected more than 6,000 of them developed depression. The hardest hit are those who spent at least 21 hours per week in front of the TV and those who exercised less than 10 minutes a day on averages.  The findings are prominent even after ruling out other risks suspected of causing depression like too much body weight, smoking and certain illnesses. In contrast, analysis found out that women who do far more exercise than watching TV cut their depression risk significantly.

Other independent studies supports the notion that regular physical exercise can help alleviate symptoms of depression, mainly by providing achievable and realistic goals that must be gained daily. This might explain why lack of exercise makes a person at risk for depression.

Researchers pointed out that although some participants might have hidden and undiagnosed depression in 1996, which might have been diagnosed after follow-up and a good reason to exercise less, it still shows a clear link that low levels of physical activity is linked to having major clinical depression. The study is very significant especially today when its expected that at least half of Americans today will experience mental illnesses for some time in their lives.

The study is headed by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, and the results are available in the December issue of American Journal of Epidemiology.

 

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