Early depression turns men into couch potatoes

Does your hubby spend most of his leisure time online or in front of the TV set to the extent of ignoring family? The reason may well be depression early on his life, a study suggests.

Young men who have experienced depression early on are more vulnerable than women to becoming sedentary later in life, the study found.

"Young men who have been depressed are more likely than young women to become trapped in a vicious cycle where depression later leads to more sedentary behaviour. This, in turn, may contribute to later health problems that also include depression," said Nancy Low from McGill University in Canada.

The study involved 761 adults in Montreal who were identified at the age of 20 as suffering from the symptoms of depression (in 2007-08).

They were asked by researchers to keep track of how much leisure time they spent in front of a TV or a computer screen (playing games or using the internet) four years later on (in 2011-12) when they were 24.

The researchers found that young men on average spent about four hours more online or watching TV each week than young women did.

The study appeared in the journal Preventive Medicine.