It passes the time, keeps you busy for the evening, entertains you, makes you laugh and cry... The television is a main actor in most homes. But apart from the benefits it can bring you, do you know its real effects on your well-being?

You come home from work, grab a soda and a bag of chips and settle down, quite comfortably, on your couch, with your partner and kids. A moment of comfort and pleasure, you will finally be able to rest.

The advent of the television era is quite recent and has finally brought about many changes in entertainment and households. It may even be one of the causes of obesity.

While some of you may not even own one, it is important to realize that many families sit in front of their TV sets for long hours, sometimes even while eating dinner. The industries have understood this and have, moreover, facilitated the packaging of their products, proposing buckets of popcorn, dishes in trays and other simplicities, thus encouraging all kinds of nibbling. Not to mention all the marketing budget they add to it. What could be more natural than to have cravings when you see food commercials all the time?

Adding all this to the sedentary lifestyle inevitably caused by television, the factors that promote obesity and overweight are already numerous. A number of studies have shown that the more time we spend watching TV, the more likely we are to develop metabolic syndrome, characterized by overweight, hypertension, high insulin levels and type 2 diabetes. This applies to both children and adults.

And this is nothing new.

More than 20 years ago, a study conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University showed that a child's weight inevitably increases with the number of hours he or she spends watching television each day. Adults are not spared either, as it has also been shown that watching more than 14 hours of television per week leads to an increased risk of insulin resistance, obesity and high cholesterol levels in both men and women.

A host of other negative effects have also been attributed to television: heart problems, damage to eyesight, decreased metabolism, sleep disorders, increased appetite, decreased attention span, delayed wound healing, etc. In short, television has a major impact on brain chemistry. The more you watch TV, the more your brain goes into a passive state, swallowing messages continuously without any reaction from you. That's why junk food ads work so well on children and teenagers.

Not only does television encourage inactivity, but it also provides considerable exposure to numerous advertisements for various foods with no nutritional value. They make the consumption of this type of food commonplace and normal, while these foods are the very basis of obesity and chronic diseases.

While television affects you unconsciously, children are much more receptive to and manipulated by their favorite characters, catchy slogans and the happiness that certain commercials can inspire.