Save the Kids! Albert Einstein, a famous philosopher once said, "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." Along the years, technology has increased immensely and has changed people lives. Some inventions that have made a big impact on younger generations are cell phones, video games and the internet. Nowadays, children prefer to stay indoors rather than going outside to play with other kids. As a consequence, obesity in children is increasing, the way kids interact with people and most importantly is changing their learning ways. According to statistics, children obesity in North America has increased tremendously in the past decade. The main cause for this disease is bad eating habits and lack of exercise. Obesity, is not only an issue with adults but it is starting to affect our kids and technology is not helping solve the problem. The time that children spend watching TV, being on the computer and playing video games has become one of the main reasons that obesity rates have grown so rapidly in many developed countries. The important fact for parents to know is that obesity can also lead to diabetes, cancer and other illnesses. The pathetic situation and the most concerned fact is that these diseases were not common among children years ago. Truly, most youngsters prefer to stay in the house and interact with their devices rather than with people. Nerveless, simple activities like washing, cleaning,
One reason for this cause is the parents’ lack of personal responsibility for their children’s health, making sure that they are eating healthy, and having the proper exercise they need to stay in shape. In the article by journalist Daniel Weintraub “The Battle Against Fast Foods Begins in the Home”, he argues that child obesity starts in the home, that parents are the reason why child obesity rates are booming by stating “ It’s the fault of parents who let their kids eat unhealthy foods and sit in front of the television or computer for hours at a time .” . Parents allow their children eat whatever they want, not knowing or caring how detrimental it may be for their health. Also, many parents don't encourage their children to go outside for physical activities for at least a half hour a day. Instead, many parents accuse video-games for the reason that their child is obese. Parents play a main role towards the cause of child obesity, even though fast food industries might seem like the culprit, one must understand all the factors that contribute to the obesity
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
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.
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
The environment of a family has an impact on a person’s health. “Research has shown that families who eat dinner together regularly consume more fruits and vegetables, fewer fried foods, and less soda than those families who do not eat dinner together.”(Dietz, 2001) Families that are stable are often more effective in being their own support system and creating a more stable environment. Families pursue the use of technology, restaurants and fast-paced eating as well as single parenting and parental denial. The media and technology promote sedentary behavior. Technology is prevalent in the cause of childhood obesity. While it is a convenience, and in some cases a form of entertainment, technology should not be replaced with active activities because it is a leading cause in childhood obesity. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 10 percent of preschool age children and 15 percent of 6- to 19-year olds, can be considered overweight. Twice as many are on the brink of the statistic, making childhood obesity a societal epidemic.” (Can, 2011) As sociocultural evolution carries on, the epidemic of obesity increases. Obesity in children also has psychological consequences such as negative physical self-perceptions, lower feelings of self-worth, and in some cases higher incidence of behavioral problems
Many kids now are to electronically smart and attached to their electronics soon if parents don’t take action more of our children will become obese along with developing the problems that come along with being obese. According to the American Diabetes Association 14.7 or 3.7million of All African Americans ages 20 years or older have diabetes: 20-80% of African American males have or will develop diabetes, those with type 2 diabetes 80-90% are obese.
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
The reason children are prone to obesity is technology. Kids spend more time in front of television and playing video games. Most of the parents across the world have confessed about their kids spending at least eight hours per week playing video games. As there is no physical activity, they are not meeting the recommended level of physical activity each day. As a result, obesity in children has become a menace. This problem could be mitigated if they engage themselves in any sort of physical activity like cycling to school,
A growing number of children are demonstrating unhealthy eating habits and as a result are becoming obese due to lack of physical activity, nutrition and genetics. Children in today’s society are not motivated to exercise and participate in after school activities. If we were to go back in time 15 to 20 years ago, children were encouraged to explore the outdoors by engaging in activities such as camping, bicycling, walking, running and playing sports. Now, living in the 21st century, technology has taken a major toll on our children health; they are spending more time indoors watching television, playing video, games, surfing the internet and texting on their mobile phones.
Children now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen whether it be a television, computer, smartphone, or playing video games (cite). No I didn’t stutter, no I’m not exaggerating, seven and a half hours a day, can you believe that? As sad as it is, I’m unfortunately not surprised. Society continues to rapidly evolve as we continue to become consumed by technology and the latest iphone. I’m not going to lie, I do love my iphone and I fall guilty to spending more time than I would like on my phone, watching tv, or on my laptop. Obesity is a serious problem in the United States, more than 80% of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities, and more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough aerobic physical activity to meet the guidelines for youth. (cite) This is an interesting piece of information. Most likely parents who do not exercise, do not motivate their children to exercise either. That’s why the percentages for adults and adolescents are so similar. Our youth need to be guided in the right direction, so we have a healthier world for future generations to come. Children are easily influenced so it is extremely important that we instill in their young minds the importance of exercise and being physically active. If children see their parents on their phones for hours on end, watching tv or
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.
Obesity has raised a great amount in more recent years, and this is a major issue because obesity can cause heart disease and early death. Kids need to become more involved physically by simply going outside and playing a sport or riding a bike. Sitting around on the couch playing video games all day is not the way to go. Parents are an important role in their children’s activities, and it is they who need to get their kids more involved with physical activity, and less time on the couch playing video games. Children need to have a healthy childhood in order to have a healthy adulthood. Obesity makes that very difficult to accomplish. Video games need to
The epidemic if obesity has increased dramatically among children. Studies show nearly forty percent of American school age children are obese (Berk, 2008). Obesity has become a big problem with children because the children are falling in the eating habits of their parents. Children have also started playing video games which doesn’t require any exercise. Children sit home all day and eat. The difference from then and now is that children didn’t have all those video games and they wanted to go out and play with friends, ride their bikes, and run and play in the yard. Now days you don’t see too many children playing anymore because they are so rapped up into those games and spend most of their time after school playing them. In this paper I will accost the causes, the problem, some ways of treatment, and the prevention of obesity.
Are you aware of that over million American children are struggling with obesity? Obesity is a serious medical and psychological condition that affects children, adult, and elderly people. According to WHO, People who are above the normal weight for their age and height are called obese. Being overweight an early age has been global problematic. As Cause, high number of obesity results from an abnormal intake of unhealthy food and drink and also unable to burn calorie. There are also problems with personal hereditary back ground that is important in determining obesity risk. Technology, especially phones, video games and television are becoming a main reason for obesity too. They are spending more
“I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” Albert Einstein’s words describe a time where people are more focused on a virtual version of themselves than real human interaction. Some may argue that this time has already come, and some say this time will be upon us soon. The inevitable growth of video games will lead to children whose lives are dictated by video games.