The stresses of college no doubt make students seek out hobbies or distractions — a big one being Netflix. It seems almost every college student now has one or two television shows they passionately follow during the semester, mitigating the effects of copious amount of work and stress from class. You may be angry if I would call out Netflix as a bad habit while other students are experimenting with other habits like binge drinking or drugs. However, while television in small doses poses relatively no threat, the dangers of binge-watching television raise a real reason for concern.
A recent survey done by Pricewaterhouse Coopers revealed that 63 percent of households in the U.S. used Netflix as their streaming service of choice in 2013. Whether we like it or not, the way we consume television is changing and adapting to our personal desires. Netflix’s business model revolves around providing customers with the ability to watch their shows whenever they want without the distraction of advertisements. Using this technique, Netflix fulfills customers’ desire for autonomy when it comes to scheduling their television viewing. The average person can likely get away with a small binge on Netflix or another television show provider a couple times a month. The problem emerges when students routinely binge-watch multiple hours of shows, multiple times a week.
Netflix tends to release entire seasons of television shows at one time, providing viewers with the ability to go on a television viewing marathon. For example, when Netflix released a new 15-episode season of “Arrested Development” over the summer of 2013, reports revealed that about 10 percent of viewers watched the entire season in a 24-hour period. A survey conducted on behalf of Netflix gave a rough definition of binge-watching as watching two to six episodes in a single sitting. When Netflix releases entire seasons at a time, it creates a binge-watching setting for Netflix consumers, which leads to long periods of inactivity that can ultimately prove costly for long-term health.
This sedentary behavior of late-night binge-watching not only takes away time from activities like studying or exercise, but also raises potential health concerns. Sitting, which many obviously do while binge-watching, is considered a sedentary activity by most researchers, while standing is categorized as light activation because it requires some muscle activity. Prolonged sedentary activities like sitting are linked to various health concerns.
Higher television viewing levels are scientifically associated with higher average waist circumferences and more dangerous blood-glucose and lipid profiles. The most sinister effect of binge-watching television comes from a study that compared mortality between television viewers who watch four or more hours a day to viewers who watch two hours or less a day. Comparing the two groups, results indicated that there was an 80 percent higher risk of death from cardiovascular diseases in the group that watched four or more hours of television.
Another popular study suggests that successful weight maintenance following weight loss was associated with avoiding television viewing. The study added that obese subjects stood around three-and-a-half hours less a day than fitter subjects. Indeed, watching television is identified as the most common sedentary behavior among humans. While you might argue, “I go to the gym a couple times a week so I can afford a few long nights of Netflix!” your exercise patterns may not matter.
This phenomenon is known as the active couch potato. The active couch potato phenomenon notes that the negative health effects of the sedentary behavior (such as binge-watching TV) is not cancelled out through exercise, and that the effects of each are independent of each other. A study concerning this idea revealed that respondents reporting more than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise remained vulnerable to health consequences of long-term sedentary behavior. I’m not telling you to stop exercising. However, working out isn’t a sufficient solution to that six-hour “The Walking Dead” marathon you completed last Saturday. The most effective way to minimize health problems associate with binge-watching is by taking breaks. Breaks in sedentary activity like binge-watching television will provide your muscles with the limited activity they need to continue functioning at full effectiveness.
Next time you find yourself sinking into your bed for an all-night “Friends” marathon, remember not to get too comfy. Get up for a quick break between episodes because a brief stretch is worth avoiding the long-term consequences of binge watching.
Ryan Smith ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in strategic communications.
