Have you ever seen someone watching a sport on TV? You might think they are lazy,but it can actually help with higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness.
According to https://www.advisory.com/ , people who watched live sports self-reported high scores on life satisfaction and lower scores on loneliness as compared to people who didn’t watch live sports. The survey was conducted in England and included 7,209 people between the ages of 16 to 85. They asked them about their well-being and if they watch live sports. Why this is good is because if you feel loneliness you will feel bad or depressed, but with lower scores of loneliness you would feel better about being alone. The research also says that “attending live sports led to an increase in people’s sense that “life is worthwhile,” comparable to the same increase people experienced when they got a new job.”
“Our findings could be useful for shaping future public health strategies, such as offering reduced ticket prices for certain groups,” said lead author of the study and also head of the Anglia Ruskin University school of psychology. Reducing ticket prices could make people that are not so well off be able to go to a sporting event. That means that they could be happy too and watch the game.
However, other research shows that watching live sports could create health problems related to increased heart rate and blood pressure. If you already have these conditions, you could possibly have a heart attack or something that could affect you badly. There were other studies too. In 2017 the study found that the spectators of Montreal Canadiens hockey game experienced a doubling of their heart rate during games.
Research says that if their team loses too badly then it will negatively affect their mood. It also says that people with no health problems are less likely to experience these risks. However the increased heart rate and blood pressure could also be from excitement. Robert Shmerling, a physician and senior faculty editor from Harvard health publishing, said that “people who choose to watch sports enjoy it and do not experience any health problems during or afterwards.”.
In conclusion, watching live sports has some good health benefits, but it also has negative effects. It can help you life satisfaction but it can also increase blood pressure. So make sure to not get too excited next time your favorite team plays. Now what do you think, is watching live sports healthy or not?
Links
https://www.advisory.com/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/
https://www.legacycommunityhealth.org/
