As usual, a study that finds an association needs to be followed by a study that uses a randomized controlled trial to establish causality. Quoting the paper:

"Participants reported time spent in TV viewing (mentally-passive sedentary behavior) and sitting during work or driving (mentally-active sedentary behavior) at age 44. Waist circumference, C-reactive protein, and glycated hemoglobin were also measured at age 44. Depression diagnosis was self-reported at ages 44, 46, 50, and 55. ]"

If you are unemployed and not in school and living alone, watching TV is a default activity. The cause of depression may not be watching TV but the circumstances leading to it. You could do a study where in the treatment group people's cable TV is turned off. I doubt it will make people happier.

>Researchers have observed that less mentally-demanding activity during sedentary behavior induces a higher risk of depression

"induces" clearly implies causality. This is not true, the research only found association. Awful. These articles are at the point now where they just outright lie

What about reading and commenting on dialectical formats/platforms like HN/Reddit? I mean, we're reading and writing and picking apart each others shit. I feel like we're all lawyers sometimes. Bang!