Couch potatoes take note- people who spend more time in front of the television are at a greater risk of dying or developing diabetes and heart disease. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed in a study that even two hours of television a day can have an effect on a person's health.

People who spend too much time in front of the television are exercising less and eating more junk food. Cutting back on this sedentary behavior is one step to being more healthy and avoiding heart disease and diabetes. Frank Hu, the lead researcher in the study said that "The combination of a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and obesity creates a 'perfect breeding ground' for type 2 diabetes and heart disease."

According to the researchers US residents have the most couch potatoes with residents spending an average of 5 hours watching television. Australians and Europeans are close behind with average times of 3.5 to 4 hours a day in front of the television, a Reuters report said.

This study is hardly groundbreaking with its linking TV time to ill effects. There have been studies linking obesity to more TV time. A 2007 report found that obese children develop higher blood pressure because of too much TV. A study just this year found that food advertisements make obese children double their food intake.

The new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that for every two hours of television the risk of diabetes increased by 20 percent, while the risk of heart disease rose by 15 percent. And if that wasn't enough to convince people to get off their couches and work out the study also found that two hours of television increased the risk of dying by 13 percent.

If people reduced their television intake by two hours they could prevent 176 new cases of diabetes, 38 cases of fatal heart disease and 104 premature deaths every year. While the researchers couldn't actually prove that just watching TV raises heart disease, this activity coupled with unhealthy eating habits could lead to these adverse effects.