Parents Be Aware Improper use of technology at home and school are raising questions on how this could change a child’s life (Subrahmanyam). Children are allowed to have unlimited access to their devices because parents believe these have educational benefits. This unlimited access has detrimental effects on children. Unfortunately, these long-term effects can start to show later in adulthood. Granted, a majority of schools use technology in the classroom, but parents are still responsible for monitoring their children’s use of technology. Parents can set an example for their children of how to properly use these devices. Children who are introduced to technology at an early age, without proper supervision, will likely suffer from childhood obesity, lack of social skills and behavioral disorder. Researchers with The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) are urging parents to become aware of the long-term effects of screen time. These effects are slowly developing over time. One impact is childhood obesity (Chan). A child will start to develop symptoms of childhood obesity because of poor eating habits, lack of physical activity and targeted marketing advertisement from the media. Experimental laboratory studies have claimed that TV viewing is associated with unhealthy eating habits which is a large contribution to obesity. These unhealthy snacks can later cause higher sugar levels and be stored as body fat. Chan from Harvard University is recommending that children
Also, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in a study in 2004, 16 percent of children that are between the ages of six and nineteen years of age are overweight or obese. This is a number that has nearly tripled since 1980, mostly due to technological usage. Being overweight can bring with it great health concerns. Many of these children have a chance of developing Type II Diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, social discrimination, high cholesterol and/or blood pressure. Moreover, according to a Stanford University of Medicine study, elementary students consume 20 percent of their daily calorie intake while watching television, which usually includes unhealthy snacks, largely due to advertisements for junk food and boredom. Coincidently, kids are not burning off any of these calories while they are plopped in front of the television.
Even when controlling for ethnicity and socioeconomic status, results still indicate that watching TV contribute significantly to obesity. For example, a study conducted in the United Kingdom concluded that an increase in TV hours on weekends correlated with higher BMIs at 30 years of age. For each added hour of time spent watching TV on weekends at age 5, obesity risk increased by 7%. The impact of watching TV on children’s weight is even more pronounced when there is a TV set in the child’s bedroom. A study of children between the ages of 9 to 12 suggested that having a TV set in their bedroom significantly increased risks of obesity, regardless of physical activity. Moreover, when TV viewing time is decreased, obesity as well as other measures of adiposity are reduced as well. Multiple studies have also documented the positive association between increased TV exposure and increase risks of childhood obesity in the Latino
The rate of childhood obesity has raised over the years with the current breakthrough in entertainment technology. The rise in childhood obesity cases has been linked to the over usage of entertainment technologies. There was a study done by the CDC showing that children aged 12 to 15 years whom play and or watch 4 or more hours of television or playing video games a lot of which were obese. Very few children that were over that threshold of obesity only 20% of which limited their screen time to 2 hours a day rather than 31% of their regular weight friends.
He points out three different mistakes that can be created in a child’s life when they use too much technology. These three mistakes are not setting limits, not having enough family time, and the parents themselves become too involved with technology. Too much technology can cause an increase of arguments between parents and kids, due to the amount of information kids now have access to. Children can use technology in a way to avoid real world situations and basic communication. In severe cases, Grover explains that technology can become addicting and can take over one’s life.
Finally, one school-based, experimental study was designed specifically to test directly the causal relationship between television viewing behaviors and body fatness. The results of this randomized, controlled trial provide evidence that television viewing is a cause of increased body fatness and that reducing television viewing is a promising strategy for preventing childhood obesity.
There is a wide spread speculation that television viewing is one of the most easily modifiable causes of obesity among children. America children spend more time watching television and videotapes and video games than doing anything else except for sleeping. Two primary mechanisms by which television viewing contributes to obesity have been suggested, reduced energy expenditure from displacement of physical activity and increased dietary energy in take, either during viewing or as a result of food advertising.
In the precedent few years, Type 2 diabetes has risen radically among children and adolescents. Experts consider this increase is due to the high rate of overweight and obesity (Cutting TM, Fisher JO, Grimm-Thomas K, Birch LL1999). One of the core reasons of children obesity is watching television. Technology is a vast accessory that millions of people use commonly in daily life. Television could be the most-used technological product of all. Millions of people now have as a minimum one television in their home. Though television seems like an immense thing to have, it has its disadvantages. Television can pessimistically influence people, mainly kids. A number of observational studies have originated an association between television watching and child and adolescent obesity. Moreover, it is recognized that American children spend more time watching television and playing video games than doing something else apart from sleeping. Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled test to assess the effects of reducing television, videotape, and video game use on changes in adiposity, physical activity, and dietary intake (Fisher JO, Birch LL. 1995). “The previous twenty five years have caused such a spectacular increase in childhood obesity. Technology, overeating and lack of physical activity can all contribute to obesity”. Birch LL, Fisher JO. Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. Pediatr
A decrease in physical activity due to the countless hours of television they are watching, as well as an interference with normal sleep patterns. Unhealthy eating habits can be learned from children television programs or advertising for unhealthy foods. “Each year kids see more than 10,000 food ads on TV alone, almost all for items like soft drinks, fast foods and sugared cereals” (Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight?). Although the connection between food marketing and childhood obesity has yet to be fully established, the federal government can take steps to help improve the media to promote healthier lifestyles for children to
The International Health Behavior in School Children survey revealed that the U.S. has the highest rate of obesity in school age children at an alarming 26%. It was the lowest in the Netherlands at 6% and in Ireland it was 16 %. Unfortunately, children who are obese at an early age are more likely to carry it with them into adulthood. Other concerns that have occurred due to increased screen time and obesity are sleep apnea, cardiovascular risk factors and type 2 diabetes. Parental influences have a large effect on the amount of screen time in children.
Today’s technology has greatly impacted the young children’s everyday lives. Phones, tablets, and computers are all a form of technology that impact the way kids are influenced. Some children get phones or computers at young ages and it can cause kids to depend on it to entertain them. Eventually they will allow the technology to take over and have it become the form of communication between friend and family instead of face to face. As parents continue to buy their children new technology they don’t monitor the amount of time their children spend on the Internet. Technology is becoming more advanced overtime which causes children to become more attached and unable to function without it near by.
Proper development in children results from consuming nutritious foods and regular exercise. However, excessive television watching results in physically inactive children, sedentary children, and these children are more likely to become overweight. Television watching does not require energy, thus reducing the metabolic rate below the resting level. Additionally, excessive television watching correlates with more between-meal snacking, and with eating the high-calorie fatty and sugary foods most heavily advertised on children's programs, increasing the risk of dental caries. Some children may even eat fewer family meals and become more obese. Additionally, television consumes time that could be spent on active outdoor play or structured physical activities, as a family or with friends. All of these factors can lead to obesity, development of heart disease, high blood cholesterol, and potential development of type 2 diabetes.
This has shown how inactive kids are in theses days. Thus, it has been confirmed by the research Relationship of Physical Activity and Television watch with Body Weight and the level of Fatness Among Children that watching TV plays a big part in child obesity since the human body cannot burn much fat efficiently when in the state of not physically active.
For years, many researchers have done individual studies on how media affects children. A review, which analyzed 173 of the strongest papers over 28 years, found that “80% of researchers are in agreement that heavy media exposure increases the risk of harm to children, including obesity, smoking, early engagement in sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, attention problems, and poor grades” (Szabo).
In a world of seemingly clever machines that can tell us where to go, how to get there, solve equations and even tell us where else is that actor from. We often no longer feel the need to think for ourselves. With the help of technology, we are making ourselves dumb. We no longer need to try and remember when someone’s birthday is or even what the number to call them is. “Some experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic.” (Parker-pope, Tara) Our phones remember everything for us and send us alerts so why even bother?
In today’s world television has become one of the most popular and frequently used pastimes. With the increase of technology available today people can now watch television on their phones, laptops, and tablets wherever they go. Something else that has increased in the past years are the number of obese people in the United States. In the last couple decades it was estimated that the number of obese children age 2-5 has more than doubled (5.0% to 12.4%) and for ages 6-11 it has also more than doubled (6.5% to 17.0%). In adolescents aged 12-19 the number has more than tripled (5.0% to 17.0%) and as for adults it is estimated that 70% of Americans are overweight and out of that percentage 50% are obese (Boulos, Vikre, Oppenheimer, Chang, & Kanarek, 2012). It is no coincidence that as the number of prolonged television use has risen so has the number of obese people in America. Television has a negative impact on children that in the long run can lead to obesity.