Scientists have now found that men who watch over 20 hours of
TV a week have almost half the sperm count of men who watch very little TV.
Around 79% men in India and 83% women are physically inactive , while 51% men and 48% women have high fat diets.
To find out if an increasingly sedentary lifestyle might be a contributory factor, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health analysed the semen quality of 189 men between the ages of 18 to 22 in 2009-10 , all of whom were from New York. The men were asked about the quantity and intensity of weekly exercise they had had over the preceding three months, and how much time they spent watching television, DVDs, or videos over the same period. They were also asked about factors that might affect sperm quality , including medical or reproductive health problems, diet, stress levels and smoking.
The amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity taken every week ranged from 5 to 14 hours, while weekly TV screen time varied from 4 to 20 hours. Men who were more physically active tended to have a healthier diet than those who watched a lot of TV every week.
The analysis showed that those who were the most physically active — 15+ hours a week — had a 73% higher sperm count than the least physically active.
TV viewing had the opposite effect . Those who watched the most — 20 or more hours a week — had a sperm count that was 44% lower than those who watched the least.
The authors however cautioned that a reduced sperm count does not necessarily curb a man's fertility or his chances of being able to father a child, but the findings do suggest that a more physically active lifestyle may improve semen quality.
Conversely, men who do 15 or more hours of moderate to
vigorous exercise every week have sperm counts that are 73% higher than those
who exercise little, the findings published in the British Journal of Sports
Medicine say.
This study should seriously wake up Indians who are already
facing both reduced sperm count and sub-optimal sperm quality. Doctors in India
say that while the sperm count of a normal Indian adult male used to be 60
million per ml around three decades ago, it now stands at around 20 million per
ml. Over 12-18 million couples in India are diagnosed with infertility every
year.Around 79% men in India and 83% women are physically inactive , while 51% men and 48% women have high fat diets.
To find out if an increasingly sedentary lifestyle might be a contributory factor, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health analysed the semen quality of 189 men between the ages of 18 to 22 in 2009-10 , all of whom were from New York. The men were asked about the quantity and intensity of weekly exercise they had had over the preceding three months, and how much time they spent watching television, DVDs, or videos over the same period. They were also asked about factors that might affect sperm quality , including medical or reproductive health problems, diet, stress levels and smoking.
The amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity taken every week ranged from 5 to 14 hours, while weekly TV screen time varied from 4 to 20 hours. Men who were more physically active tended to have a healthier diet than those who watched a lot of TV every week.
The analysis showed that those who were the most physically active — 15+ hours a week — had a 73% higher sperm count than the least physically active.
TV viewing had the opposite effect . Those who watched the most — 20 or more hours a week — had a sperm count that was 44% lower than those who watched the least.
The authors however cautioned that a reduced sperm count does not necessarily curb a man's fertility or his chances of being able to father a child, but the findings do suggest that a more physically active lifestyle may improve semen quality.
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