Does Watching TV Effect Your Sperm Count?

189 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 22, over a three-month period took part in a medical study published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, to link environmental factors and semen quality.

Men who watch more than 20 hours of television a week risk halving their sperm count.  While regular, vigorous exercise was shown to boost sperm count, excessive television-watching can counteract its positive effects.

Other factors assessed included medical or reproductive health problems, diet, stress levels and smoking.

The study found that men who watch more than 20 hours of TV a week had a sperm count 44% lower than those who watched less.  The most physically active of the volunteers, doing more than 15 hours of exercise a week, had a 73% higher sperm count.

Don't get ya hopes guys, cos those men who did both i.e watch a lot of TV and did a lot of exercise also had a lower sperm count.

Between 1989 and 2005, the average sperm count has fallen by a third according to analysis of 26,000 men.  There has been a worldwide drop in sperm count levels and this has also been accompanied by a rise in testicular cancer - double in the past 30 years - and in other male sexual disorders such as undescended testes.

 A separate investigation last year challenged guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which suggests smoking and drinking can have an adverse effect on sperm stocks.

The study by researchers at the University of Sheffield and Manchester compared the lifestyles of 939 men with poor sperm quality with 1310 men with normal sperm quality. It found little evidence that a high BMI, excessive alcohol consumption or recreational drugs were contributing factors to sperm quality.

It also found that wearing boxer shorts rather than tighter underwear was linked to higher sperm levels.

Dr George Chavarro, from the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, senior author of the recent study, said in general, very little was known about what influenced sperm count. There was even evidence that high levels of physical activity might have a detrimental effect on quality and quantity.

"I was sceptical of the results of the study on athletes because they are not representative of normal people," Dr Chavarro said.

"One of the few things we do know is that obesity lowers sperm count."