Dave on Demand: Could it be . . . addiction?

It's time to take a long, hard look at your TV viewing habits.

Why? Because there are some new and disturbing findings about what prolonged TV-watching can do to your health and to the environment. We'll get to that data in a minute.

First, are you a TV addict?

Before you answer, remember that denial is the primary attribute of addiction.

I can't tell you how many people loftily say to me, "I only watch the History Channel" or "I only watch PBS."

Yet, I've found over and over again that if you hide in the bushes outside these people's houses and peek in their windows at night, you'll see them absorbed in Wipeout or Operation Repo or Swamp Wars.

Here are 10 simple questions to determine if you're a TV addict. If you answer yes to two or more, seek immediate treatment.

1. Do you anxiously monitor Kelly Ripa's appearance, concerned that she's not getting enough sleep?

2. Have you ever been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome from abusing the remote control?

3. Can you immediately cite the corresponding number for all 250 channels on your cable array, even Oxygen and GSN?

4. Does the name Piers Morgan mean anything to you?

5. Do you attempt to engage people in debate over the relative merits of the original Hawaii Five-O vs. the remake?

6. Have you ever experienced a sexual fantasy involving Guy Fieri?

7. Are your cats named Khloe, Kourtney, and Kim?

8. Do you remember the names of any contestants on The Amazing Race?

9. Do you consider yourself proficient at completing each week's TV Guide Crossword puzzle?

10. Have you ever said to a hair stylist, "Give me a Greta Van Susteren"?

Tough to swallow. A study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association found that watching two or more hours of TV a day raises your risk of developing heart disease by 15 percent and type 2 diabetes by 20 percent.

The more you watch, the more your life expectancy drops.

I'm really hoping my insurance agent doesn't hear about this.

Now recording. It's not just yourself you're hurting by glutting on TV. Your carbon footprint is crushing the planet.

DVR set-top boxes in this country eat up 27 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, according to researchers from the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's as much energy consumption as all the homes in the entire state of Maryland. It's the equivalent of nine coal-burning power plants working night and day.

It gets worse. The demon boxes continue soaking up nearly as much juice when the display is turned off.

TiVo never sleeps.

Weighty issues. We've seen several male TV actors undertake significant weight-loss regimens of late, including Sean Murray of NCIS, Angus T. Jones on Two and a Half Men, and Entourage's Jerry Ferrara. Jeff Garlin, Larry David's sidekick on Curb Your Enthusiasm, was reported to have slimmed down as well, but in the advance screeners of this season HBO sent out, I'm just not seeing it.

Rob McElhenney of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has gone in the opposite direction. When the seventh season of the scabrous sitcom starts in September, you'll see he has actually put on 50 pounds, believing, he says, it would make his Mac character funnier.

It also makes him a more authentic-looking Philadelphian.