Computers Vs. TV: Which is Less Likely to Promote Dementia?

An Anonymous Coward writes:

When it comes to health issues, not all forms of being sedentary are equal:

Standing desks-and even biking desks-are a response to a growing body of studies showing that a sedentary lifestyle creates many health risks. Regular physical activity appears to confer a degree of protection from various problems, both physical and mental, and many results indicate that this doesn't have to be Olympic-level training. Simply walking around the apartment a few times a day appears to help.

Now, a team of researchers has looked at the opposite question: Are all forms of inactivity equal? The answer is probably not. While the details depend on the health issues involved, there's likely to be some good news for people reading this, in that computer use appears to be somewhat protective against dementia.

[...] Before we get into the results, a small reminder: The work focused on the influence of sedentary behavior on mental issues. Physical health issues weren't examined-it's possible for something that looks relatively good in this analysis to be an overall negative once physical issues are factored in.

That out of the way, what did they see? With age and gender controlled for, time spent watching TV was associated with an increased risk of dementia (a hazard ratio of 1.3, meaning they were 1.3 times more likely to be diagnosed with indications of dementia). Physical activity lowered the risks very slightly. In contrast, computer use lowered the risk by quite a bit more, dropping the hazard ratio to 0.8.

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