Shift Towards Desk Based Occupations

For years, Americans have been told that exercising and staying active is imperative to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In general, this fact holds true for all generations and age groups, including the youth of today. Children simply need to exercise and participate in more physical activities in order to maintain a high level of health. The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools suggests that, “one of the leading causes of this epidemic (childhood obesity) is a marked decline in physical activity and athletic participation” (“Athletics in Schools”). Childhood fascinations with watching television, playing video games, and browsing the internet are just a few of the sedentary hobbies taking over children’s free time to be active. Therefore, mandating physical activities in schools across the country will effectively reduce the frequency of this major, obesity health crisis in young students. Understandably, a plethora of factors cause and influence children to become overweight and obese, but working to fix each evident problem will, in the end, contribute to finally ending the developing childhood health crisis.

Perhaps the most damaging health habit kids today have is their complete and total lack of exercise. Children today are more inclined to a sedentary behavior. Movies, television, the Internet, etc. are all magnets for kids, and while these mediums of entertainment aren’t altogether “evil” they can breed docile attitudes. If too much time is spent watching

Although Bradbury does not specifically discuss the physical risks of inactivity, the nation’s climbing obesity rate is clear evidence of the fact that Americans are moving less and instead turning to sedentary pastimes to unwind. From Bradbury’s perspective in time, the dangers of television were the greatest risk posed to enjoying hands-on, real world activities. Today, there are even more varied sedentary distractions, spanning from the Internet, to mobile phones, to video games.

Healthy People implemented an extensive list of physical activity objectives targeting youth of all ages. The objectives are all aimed at promoting the health benefits of maintaining a physically active life-style. The following objective targets a major area of concern for the medical community and the increase of inactivity among today's youth; “PA-8.2.2; Increase the proportion of children and adolescents aged 6 to 14 years who view television, videos, or play video games for no more than 2 hours a

An increases in the number of obese children can be attributed to the growth of both the fast food and technology industries. Fast food has become an attractive alternative to home-cooked meals for many families. Poor economic times has caused many families to struggle making ends meet, making fast food an inexpensive and easy meal. Additionally, technology--video games, cell phones, computers, and tablets-- and social media has also exacerbated the issue of child obesity. These technological and social media outlets have caused many youths to spend countless hours watching television, playing a video game, or browsing the web. The U.S. Department of Health suggests that adolescents should get at least one hour of physical activity everyday. According to a recent study, “over 45% of Americans 12-17 years of age spend more than two hour per day glued to a screen” (Source 6). It is clear that most of today’s generation of teens and adolescents doesn’t get the recommended one hour of physical activity per day. But who is going to help adolescents and their fight with

Greg Critser identifies the main barriers to physical activity in modern society. First of all, being active was viewed as a personal choice, not an obligatory part of daily life. In 1980, TV became the dominant mass medium which occupied a high proportion of American leisure time. According to Greg Critser, an average American watches about four hours of TV a day and during these hours there is no physical activity. Moreover, when people watch TV they usually eat something or take snacks with increased caloric intake. Numerous researches have shown that children who watched television during childhood had a higher risk of becoming obese. CDC also found that children who watched four or more hours of TV per day are more likely to have higher BMI and skinfold thickness than children who watch less television. There is a strong positive association between TV watching time and the risk of becoming overweight or obese. The more television people watch, the more likely they are to gain weight and become overweight or obese. Second of all, cuts in school funds influence physical education and PE classes. The amount of time and frequency children spent in PE class decrease tremendously. Along with this, the level of rigorous activity needed in order to surpass decrease dramatically. By the end of the 1980s, Illinois was the only state that required daily physical

The growing dependence on Tv, Internet, computers all lead to a more sedentary lifestyle in children. It is amazing how quickly children catch up to these technologies. My three-year-old can log in to a computer and get to PJ Masks or Super why (His two favorite cartoons), and he can sit for hours on end watching video after video. I have had to register him in karate and soccer classes just so he can have some physical activity.

Today’s generation of children is the most inactive and obese in all of U.S. history (Loonin, 54). Poor exercise habits are developed as early as preschool age (All children above the age of 2 should be getting at least an hour of exercise a day in order to stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight (Overweight and Obesity, 2). Many young children have become accustomed to staying inside and using electronics, where they do not have to exert much energy whereas going outside and playing would. The average child in today’s society spends up to

As we intake calories we must work them out. Dr. Michael Omidi, co-founder of The Children’s Obesity Fund. says “However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the lack of physical exercise in children is the main culprit in the startling rise of childhood obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and all other types of preventable medical conditions.” As we grow up we start our exercise in our schools physical education class. As we become young teens in junior high we start getting fewer exercise because it isn’t mandatory to get a P.E. the whole year. Once getting to high school many states only require to at least have 1 P.E. credit to graduate. It’s unbelievable how the American education system works, how they slowly cut our physical activity leading the young Americans to obesity. If schools provided more physical activity and made it mandatory for kids to have a P.E. credit for every year, our children obesity rate wouldn’t be as high. Our technology has begun to take over many Americans lives, and according to “obesity in children and technology”, “A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2014 monitored the habits of 1,003 sixth-graders. The researchers found that kids who spent more time in front of a screen -- whether it was a computer, TV or video game -- snacked more often and ate fewer healthy snacks than children who used

The stigma of the sedentary lifestyle is not limited to working. Many sedentary habits develop at ones home. Watching television and playing on the computer have proven to be one of the least engaging metabolic activities. Riding, driving and reading have proven to have higher metabolic rates then watching television or playing a game on the computer. Working and watching television consumes many American’s time (Medical Center). Based on a study done in 2012 the average American under the age of two watches approximately thirty-four hours of live television a week and three to six hours watching taped programs a week (Hinckley). In the end, a small fraction of the day is left to burn calories and raise ones metabolic rate (Medical Center).

It is commonly believed that in a private healthcare system, having citizens pay for their own medical services encourages them to be more active and precocious with their body. For instance, people would consistently injure themselves because they do not have pay a single cent upfront. However, countries with socialized medicine evidently have far better health results by using preventative approaches. By way of example, Canadian curriculums for children and teens encourage them to eat healthy and to engage in 60 minutes of activity each day to prevent type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, breast and colon cancer, depression, metabolic syndrome, and many other chronic or life-threatening diseases. This initiative to take preventative measures is reflected in the statistics. Obesity is a major growing health issue in the world, caused by consuming unhealthy foods and lack of physical activity. It increases the risks of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, breathing issues, gout, osteoarthritis, the diseases listed above, and many more. Additionally, people with obesity restrain from going to work, and while there, have lower productivity than those who do not. Obesity trends in the United States-the only

The government presently has programs in place that are meant to urge people to deal with their weight. Cities generally have parks which supply free exercise-related areas to the public. While the government offers resources for people to challenge obesity, the government should “let each [person] take responsibility for [their] diet and lifestyle.”(Balko) An individual, not the government, pays the consequences of obesity in their value of life. In fact, the government should not pay for any backlash of obesity, because it removes a person’s own accountability, but “we’re likely to make better decisions when someone else isn’t paying for the consequences.” (Balko). Obesity does not occur in a day or a week, but through a sequence of choices and routines, which form a lifestyle. A law highlights a problem and provides a solution, this procedure is often efficient in dealing with the problem. But as for the growing problem of obesity, solutions suggested are usually short term regulations which cannot always connect a multi-generational problem. Instead of taking away temptations, such as fast food chains or unhealthy foods, the government should continue encouraging people to live a healthy life. The benefit of healthy living is that it is not limited to today, if prioritized, healthy living can become a long-lasting

This data shows that both males and females are spending too much time being sedentary. This is a big issue and has been seen to cause increased rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease later in life.

According to statistics release by the Johnson’s Foundation, in 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2016). Meaning that one in four children age 10-17 are obese, suffering from multiple side effects that can lead to death. The fact of the matter is that we cannot overlook this societal problem. The constant increase in technology and processed food are two of the leading factors of sedentary lives, unfortunately, they are main

In today’s society, technology has played a big role in everyone’s lives and has taken over. Kids today stay inside and play on the computer, watch TV, play video games, or mess with tablets and smartphones. Several people find other, more entertaining things to do than play outside and be active. Some of the times, physical education in schools is the only physical activity students have on a daily basis (“Obesity”). Kids and teenagers would much rather be wrapped up in a social network than going for a job or going to the gym. Back in the day, playing outside was one of the few entertainments. Parents have no discipline and let their children do what they want to their bodies. Technology has caused people to be less active and not as self-controlled causing them to be obese or overweight later in life.