Television Destroys Us Physically

by Joel Ramshaw

Studies show that watching television increases the viewers risk of death from all causes.[1] Television causes more health risks than all other sedentary activities.[2] In particular obesity is on the rise in the world and has more than tripled in the past few decades.[3] Looking at old photographs from the 50’s before widespread TV, it is rare to see overweight individuals. Television has taken over our leisure time. Rather than go outside for a walk or exercise, the path of least resistance is to sit back and veg out. As opposed to participation in sports as an active member, which would benifit our health, we prefer to passively watch the professionals battle it out on television while we lay back collecting calories.

Avarice-inspired advertisements assault us with a steady stream of the unhealthiest of nourishments, bombarding our brain until after hundreds of views, we subconsciously began to crave their crap that is offered to us. Like the Babylonian butler offering to Daniel the devil’s delicacies, television subtly steals our natural desire to eat what will edify us, replacing it with a perilous platter of processed carbs and calories. We may think these ads have no effect on us, but they obviously do. Why else would the corporations spends billions on televised ads anually except that they work? Unfortunately, children are the victims being the most succeptible group to junk food advertisement

Television usage is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes. The excess of food intake, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise all combine to cause an diabetes epidemic. Unbelievably this disease has actually quadrupled since 1980, leading to over 400 million sufferers presently (according to a study performed by the W.H.O.).[4] This disease is not something to take lightly, given all the long-term health effects it brings. Diabetes is the fifth most common cause of death in the world and reduces a person's lifespan by an average of 10 years.[5]

Proverbs 19:24, “24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.”





Like the “slothful sluggard” of Proverbs, we bury our hand in our bag of potatoes chips…. it is like a laboursome activity to bring the junk food to our mouth. To lift the remote control only ads to the burden. The mere act of rising from our slothful state prostrate on the sofa we imagine to be a herculean feat.

In addition to the previously mentioned ailments, as if they were not bad enough we must now add the indignity of impotence to the list. Recent research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has shown that watching 20 or more hours of television cuts down a man’s sperm count by half.[6] It appears that just as television impairs our ability to reproduce disciples of Christ spiritually, our natural reproduction weakens to reflect it in a sense.

The average person in the modern world only attain 6.5 hours of sleep per day. At the same time, 4hrs is the average daily television a modern adult takes in. We could just knock off 90mins of TV each day and we would have a healthy 8hrs of sleep, but instead, television is given the pre-eminence in our lives.

Our sleep is one of the important areas of life we can get cheated out of by not watching our time. Watching television before bed will also result in a less restful sleep due to the 'blue light' the screen releases. Blue light from electronics tricks the brain into thinking it is still daytime and throws off our natural cycle. This impairs our ability to transition to 'deep sleep' which is the most restful phase of sleeping.

Psalm 127:2, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”





Sleep is spoken of as a 'gift of God.' We stay up late and even pull “all-nighters” to watch our movie marathons. Rather than simply enjoy the blessing of sleep, we are like the men of Job 24:13-17, “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof… For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death.”

The ancients considered the physical body to be a reflection of the soul from the principle of “as above, so below.” Many of the great Greek philosophers considered physical exercise equal in importance to spiritual activity. In other words if our physical body is unhealthy it will drag down our soul’s health also. This has been confirmed by modern science in that physical and mental/emotional health are strongly linked. Excercise tends to help those struggling with depression and is often one of the first things prescribed to those affected. Biblically our body is considered to be spiritual, in the sense that it is a temple of God’s Spirit:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”






All things considered, it cannot be denied the destruction TV has caused mankind in the physical and bodily realm. Obesity, diabetes, impotence, slothfulness. The combination of sitting for long periods, snacking, hundreds of advertisements of unhealthy foods, and less hours of sleep all combine to our bodily detriment. Is it worth it to keep watching when we see all these effects on our health and lifespan? Will we look back later on in life with appreciation or regret for these hours spent?


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[1] https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/public-health/tv-death-risk-television-viewing

[2] https://www.askdoctork.com/watching-tv-worst-sedentary-activity-health-201409056836

[3] http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diabetes-global-1.3522830

[5] https://www.diabetes.org.uk/resources-s3/2017-11/diabetes_in_the_uk_2010.pdf

[6] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130204184531.htm