Television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Aim To investigate the longitudinal association between television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus in an elderly sample of adults in England. Methods Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline (2008), participants reported their television viewing time and physical activity level. Diabetes mellitus was recorded from self-reported physician diagnosis at 2-year follow-up. Associations between television viewing time and combined television viewing time and physical activity level with risk of incident diabetes mellitus at follow-up were examined using adjusted logistic regression models. Results A total of 5964 participants (mean ± sd age 65 ± 9 years at baseline, 44% male) were included in the analyses. There was an association between baseline television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus at 2-year follow-up (≥ 6 h/day compared with <2 h/day; odds ratio 4.27, 95% CI 1.69, 10.77), although the association was attenuated to the null in final adjusted models that included BMI. Participants who were inactive/had high television viewing time at baseline were almost twice as likely to have diabetes mellitus at 2-year follow-up than those who were active/had low television viewing time (fully adjusted odds ratio 1.94, 95% CI 1.02, 3.68), although active participants reporting high television viewing were not at risk. Conclusion Interventions to reduce the incidence of diabetes in the elderly that focus on both increasing physical activity and reducing television viewing time might prove useful.