Research

Mixed

High levels of sedentary behavior, specifically television viewing time, are associated with a significantly increased risk of lung cancer compared to low levels of sedentary time.

If you spend a lot of time sitting, especially watching TV, be aware that this habit is linked to a higher risk of lung cancer. This risk may be partly due to smoking, which is more common among sedentary individuals, but the sitting itself may also play a role. Try to limit continuous viewing time and take breaks to stand or move.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
A positive association with overall sedentary behavior was also noted for lung cancer (RR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.43).
Daniela Schmid et al. · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2014

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of observational studies, but the association is weaker and likely confounded by smoking status, which is a major risk factor for lung cancer.

Source

Television Viewing and Time Spent Sedentary in Relation to Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Daniela Schmid et al. · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2014

DOI 10.1093/jnci/dju098

Meta-analysis · 43 studiesCited 361×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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