Quilting is Good for You

I know I’m not alone in enjoying the company of TV or DVDs when I quilt. Lately my favorites have been the first seasons of Ugly Betty (so sweet!) Veronica Mars (so sassy!) and the BBC miniseries Little Dorrit (ah, Dickens.)  I was able to check all of these out from the public library…gods bless the library!

Last week, I heard a news report on the health risks of TV that convinced me that my quilting habit is negating some of the ill effects of all that TV watching.

According to a study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, every hour of daily TV time, correlates with an 18 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and an 11 percent risk from death from all causes.  That’s huge!

But here’s the thing: the TV is bad for you not because of any rays it emits, but because people sit so still to watch it.  It’s your impression of a statue that gets you! 

The good doctors who conducted the study recommend that people get up and move around more when watching TV.  And they don’t mean exercise, they just mean move a little, mill about, wiggle your bits.

Well, anyone who quilts, and especially anyone who quilts improvisationally knows that quilting is all about moving around from the ironing board to the sewing machine to the cutting mat.  Thus, I’m forced to conclude that quilting is good for you!  Yay!

You can hear the NPR report on this study here.

Oh, and for those of you who prefer podcasts to DVDs, I’m sure you’ve heard of the amazing This American Life  but have you been listening to Radio Lab?  I love that show…its all the things you forgot you loved about science…give it a go, you’ll be glad you did.