According to new research, reducing your television intake to less than one hour a day could prevent one in nine cases of coronary heart disease. A team from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit and the Universities of Cambridge and Hong Kong have found that too much TV increases the risk of heart disease, regardless of an individual’s genetic makeup.

However, the new study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, finds that 11 percent of coronary heart disease cases could be prevented if people watched less than an hour of TV each day.

Coronary heart disease is one of the world’s leading causes of death. One in eight men and one in 15 women die from the disease. People with coronary heart disease are twice as likely to suffer a stroke.

One of the significant risk factors for coronary heart disease is a sedentary or “couch potato” lifestyle, sitting for long periods rather than being physically active.

To examine the link between time spent in screen-based sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and leisure-time computer use, an individual’s DNA, and their risk of coronary heart disease, researchers examined data from the UK Biobank. This study includes more than 500,000 adults followed for about 12 years.

The team of scientists created polygenic risk scores for each person. Their genetic risk of developing coronary heart disease is based on 300 genetic variants known to influence their chances of developing the condition. People with higher polygenic risk scores were at the most significant risk of developing heart problems.

Those who watched more than four hours of television per day were at the greatest risk of the disease, regardless of their risk score. Compared to those individuals, people who watched two to three hours of TV a day had a relatively six percent lower rate of developing the condition. In comparison, those who watched less than an hour of TV had a somewhat 16 percent lower rate.

The associations were independent of genetic susceptibility and other known risk factors. Leisure time spent using a computer did not appear to influence disease risk.

“Our study provides unique insights into the potential role that limiting TV viewing might have in preventing coronary heart disease,” says corresponding author Dr. Youngwon Kim, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and visiting researcher at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, in a university release. “Individuals who watch TV for less than one hour a day were less likely to develop the condition, independent of their genetic risk.”

“Limiting the amount of time sat watching TV could be a useful, and relatively light touch, a lifestyle change that could help individuals with a high genetic predisposition to coronary heart disease in particular to manage their risk.”

The World Health Organization recommends reducing the amount of sedentary behavior and replacing it with physical activity of any intensity to keep healthier. So while you may want to binge-watch the latest Netflix series, make sure that you’re getting up from the couch and staying active.