Are Video Games Increasing Childhood Obesity?
Posted: November 30, 2011 Filed under: Students 6 Comments »BY SHERWIN RICHARDSON
In the past three decades, childhood obesity has been growing at an alarming rate. In 1975 – 1980 the figures from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) estimated that only 5 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 – 19 were overweight. In 2007 – 2008 that number rose to 17 percent. Children that are now overweight are having health issues that were only seen in adults like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. There are many factors that could be associated with the rising numbers in childhood and teen obesity. However, video games might not be something you would normally consider a factor.
Indirectly, it seems as though technology has the upper hand at aiding to increase the obesity epidemic. Children and teens seem to be replacing outside activities with picking up a play station or Xbox controller. Unfortunately, we are finding that video games are increasing the rate of a sedentary lifestyle. On average, children and teens are playing video games three or more hours per day. Children and teens that are physically inactive could develop a slue of problems. In addition to obesity concerns, type II diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, kids could fall victim to cardiovascular issues, ridicule from peer groups for being over weight and/or bullying. Furthermore, children that live a sedentary lifestyle increase their chances of being sedentary as an adult.
There are measures that could be implemented to decrease the chances of childhood obesity. For one, parents should decrease the amount of time their children spend in front of the television or computer playing video games. In addition to cutting down the hours, it is recommended that families do some form of physical activity together. By making the activity fun and family oriented, it will get children in the habit of physical activity.
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html
http://children.webmd.com/news/20040702/video-games-tv-double-childhood-obesity-risk
I completely agree, it is scary how much child obesity has increase. If only people would pay more attention to it and its risks. Parents play a huge role, and should encourage children to be healthy
This article makes total sense and foreshadows a scary future of even more obese adults and unhealthier lifestyles. I don’t think abstaining from video games is a reasonable solution. People, especially children, are very attached to video games and some games have even become a monumental representation of how far our technology has come. Instead, A solution is the physically active video games like wii fit and xbox kinect. These are fun alternatives to traditional video games that encourage physical activity and can be a helpful step to a healthier lifestyle.
I can definitely see how video games are causing an increase childhood obesity. I have many young cousins who just sit in the house and play games all day long. These games include absolutely no physical activity except for the use of their thumbs. I think that parents need to be more strict and enforce that their child only plays video games for a short, certain amount of time. Children need to be pushed to be outside playing and engaging in more physical activity. Not only will this be able to decrease a child’s weight, but it is more mentally healthy as well.
I agree its alarming the amount of children who would rather stay inside and play video games than be outside. I remember when I was younger I was never inside, I refused to stay inside. It seems that the more technology advances the lazier we get and inevitably the fatter we are getting.
I really agree with what your saying, it really is difficult to get kids to go outside and play. with all the technology around kids are so distracted and don’t even realize how long they have been sitting there. They have games and systems that require movement like wii and xbox kinect but its not good enough because kids who want to be active are already active. And the lazy kids will probably stay lazy.
I couldn’t have said it any better. You are absolutely right, technology is the main reason why childhood obesity is so prevalent. Not just video games, but computers, television, cell phones and even kindle are interfering with a child’s physical activity. Children are spending less time at the park and staying active and more time in a chair in front of a computer or television consuming foods with no nutritional values. Caloric intake is increasing while caloric expenditure is decreasing which is why childhood obesity is an epidemic. I was hoping someone in our class was going to discuss this matter and I’m glad you did. Great blog!