We all know that watching lots and lots of TV is unhealthy, but really, how bad can it be?

According to Christen Brownlee of Men’s Health, “a new study published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association answers that question with some real numbers: every 2 hours of TV watching per day increases your risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 percent, cardiovascular disease by 15 percent, and premature death by any cause, by 13 percent.”

A new study proves that excessive TV watching is unhealthy and leads to major health issues. Researchers gathered these by using past studies that looked at the relationship of hours spent in front of the TV and the effect that it had on overall health.

The average American now watches 5 hours a day of TV which means less exercise and more food, especially junk food.

TV-viewing is a pretty deadly pastime, research suggests. No matter how much time you spend in the gym, every hour you spend in front of the TV increases your risk of dying from heart disease, according to a recent report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Australian researchers studied 8,800 adult men and women for an average of six years and found that every hour spent in front of the TV translated into an 11 percent increase in the risk of death from any cause, a 9 percent increase in the risk of death from cancer and an 18 percent increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

So, compared to people who watched less than two hours of TV a day, those who watched four or more hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from any cause and an 80 percent higher risk of death due to cardiovascular disease.

And that was true even among people who didn’t smoke, were thin, ate healthy diets, and had low blood pressure and cholesterol.

It all boils down to a simple message: Flip off the tube and find another way to suck up hours of each day, preferably exercising and eating well.

Click here to learn more.