Over the last decade or so, OTT platforms have changed how we watch movies/shows. Gone are the days when you had to wait in line for hours to get a ticket to your favorite star’s movie. Now, all you need to do is unlock your computer or smartphone and log in to your streaming platform account.
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While it has certainly made life easier, it has led to avid movie fans binge-watching a lot. But one might wonder how much binge-watching is too much? Can it cause health issues? Well, today, we will find out an answer to that question in the article.
Is Binge-Watching Harmful For Your Health?
According to research conducted in 2020, among the age group of 30-44 (adults) in the U.S., about 70% of people have admitted they love watching back-to-back TV shows or movies. At the same time, the age group of 18-29 (young adults) is not that behind, with 69% sitting for long hours in front of their screens.
Considering the numbers are pretty high, you may fall into the category. So, here are a few problems that might disrupt your regular life due to watching too many TV shows/movies:
Not Getting Enough Sleep
The importance of proper sleep cannot be overstated. However, if you love binge-watching, then there might be times you will find trouble in stopping yourself. Just one more episode will escalate to one whole season and ultimately affect your productivity the next day.
Losing Touch With Friends/Family
Consider that you are now stuck in the cycle of binge-watching shows at night. Ultimately, it will have a heavy impact on your schedule. While the rest of the world will be awake, you will be fast asleep. At first, it might not seem like that big of an issue, but with time, a communication gap might emerge between your friends/family. This can have devastating effects on your social life.
Developing Odd Eating Habits
If you are spending way too much time in front of the screen, you are likely to miss a few meals. Once again, initially, it won’t seem like much harm. But down the line, not eating proper meals will be bad for your health.
Physical Inactivity
Sitting in one spot to consume hours of content could also lead to many serious health conditions. They range from obesity to serious heart disease. Even if you like to binge-watch your favorite TV series or movies, make sure you are not sitting in the same spot and take the occasional 10-15 minute walks or stretching exercises.
Forming Blood Clots
Similar to the last point we made, according to a study in 2018, regular binge-watchers have a 70% more risk of forming blood clots than your average person. The risk is still present if you are physically fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle apart from binge-watching.
What Is The Solution?
At the end of the day, you are the only person who can put brakes on your situation. In simple terms, you will need to limit your habit of binge-watching. Is this the best way to do it? Create a proper schedule; if you create a fair schedule managing your hours, you can still binge-watch and not harm your health.
Another way is to take the help of a digital wellbeing application. Luckily, almost every smartphone is already equipped with such an app.
One step that OTT platforms can take is to provide a built-in watch timer for their apps. They could send a warning to viewers who have prolonged screen time if a viewer ignores a few warnings, then handing out a short ban to allow users to reset and get some rest. These are small yet very important steps in the right direction.
Binge-Watching: A Symbol For Youngsters To Look “Cool”
While you can see almost every age group loves to binge-watch from time to time, youngsters are a bit too indulged in it. In fact, most take it as a sign of pride to watch entire shows in just a day.
As a result, it has started to become an addiction, and evidently, it’s hard to get rid of it. Moreover, even if someone in this age group is initially not indulging in binge-watch, they could feel left out. So, they end up giving in and become a part of it.
Social media plays a vital role in the rise of this habit, and hopefully, it will soon be sorted out. If current youngsters can find a way to restrict long hours of watching content online, it will eventually impact a broader audience.
As for the solutions, we have already talked about them above. They apply to everyone, be it youngsters, adults or the old.
We hope you find it helpful, and feel free to share your views in the comments section below.
