LIVE WELL. Go Green. eco NEWSLETTER Death by Television September 5, 2012 "Get moving or die!" This was the message shouted loud at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sport Medicine. People who sit in front of the television will die before the rest of us. Although that sounds exaggerated, it's a truth supported by research. I often read that even a "bit" of exercise will benefit our health. I remember a campaign to get people moving -- parking in the far corner of the parking lot or taking the stairs instead of the elevator were suggested as ways to increase our levels of activity, with some hope that the extra 5-10 minutes of moderate activity would make us healthy and prolong our lives. Please don't be fooled that gradual enhancements in our activity levels are enough to overcome the sacrifices we make with our modern lifestyles. While exercise does reduce the risk of early death, even exercising four to seven hours per week will not overcome the effects of spending time in front of the television. Dr. Charles E. Matthews, a physical activity epidemiologist and investigator from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland evaluated more than 240,000 adults between the ages of 50 to 71 years who were disease free. He wanted to look at the relationship between television watching and exercise levels in relation to mortality rates. He found that "people with higher levels of sedentary behaviour, such as prolonged watching television, have higher