People who spend hours watching television, sitting in front of a computer screen or playing video games are more likely to suffer a cardiovascular event like a stroke or heart attack.
对世界各地千百万人来说，在电视或电子游戏机前花上几个小时，是挺典型的一天。但是，长时间坐在电视或电脑前，可能导致严重的健康问题。
"The crucial finding from this study is that people spending in excess of four hours a day watching TV were at high risk of having a future cardiovascular event," says researcher Mark Hamer of University College London, adding there's also a higher risk of death whatever the cause.
一项持续了多年的研究发现，把大量闲暇时间花在电脑或电子游戏屏幕前的人，比其他人更有可能出现中风或心肌梗塞之类的心血管疾病。伦敦大学学院的研究员马克·哈默说：“这项研究的重要发现是，每天看电视超过4个小时的人，未来患心血管疾病的风险高。”
Whether or not they use a computer at work, those who spent four hours of leisure time a day sitting at a computer or watching TV were about 50 percent more likely to die than those who spent less than two hours a day in front of a screen.
哈默说，此外，这些人死于其他原因的概率也比较高。不管他们是不是在工作时使用电脑，和每天在屏幕前的时间少于2个小时的人相比，那些每天在闲暇时坐在电脑前或看电视超过4个小时的人，他们的死亡风险要高出大约百分之50。
The researchers used data from 4,500 adults enrolled in an ongoing research program called the Scottish Health Survey.
哈默使用了4,500名参与研究的成年人的资料。这项正在进行的研究叫作“苏格兰人健康调查”。
Researchers accounted for other risk factors, such as smoking and high blood pressure.
哈默和他的同事们也将其它风险因素考虑在内，例如吸烟和高血压。
"The important aspect of this finding is that we adjusted our analysis for a number of other risk factors - in particular, levels of physical activity that people were taking," says Hamer.
他说：“这项发现的重要之处在于，我们在进行分析是也考虑进了其它一些风险因素，特别是人们从事体力活动的程度。”
This latest study is generally consistent with previous research by others, which suggests that long periods of sitting are associated with heart attacks and related conditions. Hamer acknowledges that many people do have to spend all day at their computers, and many enjoy relaxing with their favorite TV program or game.
这项研究和其他人先前做过的一些研究的结果大致相符，也就是说，长时间坐着不动和心脏疾病以及其它相关病症有关。哈默承认，很多人不得不整天在电脑前工作，也有很多人想放松的时候，愿意看自己喜欢的电视节目或玩电子游戏。
"But I think that what's really harmful is prolonged sitting, and so maybe a simple way to reduce this would be simply to take more breaks in the day and actually get up from your desk and it may be a matter of taking a five-minutes walk just to get your circulation moving again."
但是哈默说：“真正有害的是长时间坐着。也许一个简单的减少风险的方法就是中间多停几次，从桌前站起来，走5分钟，让血液恢复循环。”
The study by Mark Hamer, lead author Emmanuel Stamatakis and others is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. |