Technology brings great things to our society, such as communication to people we would normally not associate with, but it may be getting out of hand. Technology has brought forth many popular things such as the TV, the Xbox, Playstation, and Wii. These things are great but they are also causing many problems. According to Science daily, an online science newspaper, states that obesity is linked to technology such as video games. Elizabeth A Vandewater Ph. D at the University of Texas and colleagues state that "children with higher weight status tend to spend more time playing video games while children with lower weight status tend to play less video games ." The obesity in American children ages 6 to 11 has increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008 and that is a little frightening. Technology is at the fore front of this problem because if children werent inside playing video games or watching television, they would be outside being active or playing a sport.
I know that video games and television arent the only things causing childhood obesity, but you have to stop and think that if these kids were outside half the time they are inside playing video games or watching television, they might not be in a position of obesity. I think that this problem starts with the parents. I truly believe that if parents regulate their childrens television watching and video game playing, that would be a start. The child would have to find something else to do, which could result in physical activity. Also, signing the child up for sports also might get them away from technology. This technology is not bad, the industry for video games is a rising one and it is helping our economy, but with younger children, they dont know when to quit and do something else. They could sit on those machines for multiple hours and not have any physical activities at all. They need to be regulated and take use of those machines' parental controls. I think that childhood obesity is a growing problem in the US, and it starts at home with the parents with the regulation of diets and technology. In this instance, I think that technology is hurting our youth here in the United States.
1 comment:
I would have to agree that technology is helping push this country towards obesity. I believe that parents are the core of the problem, and technology is just a big co-factor.
Technology is used to help us progress as well as just have some fun. This form of entertainment can become very addicting. Where does the desire of technology put its roots? Parenting.
Parents need to let their children have some enjoyment with technology so that it is not completely foreign to them, but they also need to limit this drug. Too much of it and kids begin this trend towards obesity. Not only do parents need to limit these times, they also just need to be good parents. I personally believe that most kids who plays video games all day every day, do not have the best relationship with their parents, and the video games are giving them this comfort that they desire; this causes them to play more often, then when someone wants them to do something outside, they are too out of shape to have fun or are embarrassed and just want to stay inside and play more, because they don't get judged from the Television.
Parents should be at the forefront of the youth obesity issue, but technology is not helping, making more and more games/movies that kids want to play and watch all day every day. At the overview, technology is hurting the children of our society, our future leaders, but I do not believe that technology is the core of the problem.
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