Technology Childhood Obesity

The technological advancements in society allows for many benefits for the upcoming generations. For instance, with the click of a few buttons, children can access unlimited amounts of information. Technology helps educate children, while also serving as an entertainment source. Entertainment is a part of childhood, so this is one of the many advantages technological advancements bring; however, the easy access to technology allows children to use it too much creating a disadvantage due to the unhealthy lifestyle technology promotes. Technological advancements in society are linked to promoting sedentary lifestyles for children across the globe (Laurson, Lee, Gentile, Walsh, & Eisenmann, 2014). This makes perfect sense because with television,

Studies show that children who spend two or more hours a day watching television, get less than sixty minutes of physical activity daily, and do not sleep the recommended hours per night are eight times more likely to suffer from obesity (Laurson, Lee, Gentile, Walsh, & Eisenmann, 2014). This shows correlation between physical inactivity and childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is such a growing problem because of the health consequences that follow this disease. Children who suffer from obesity have a greater chance of suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes use to be thought of as a condition that occurs in adulthood because it was only seen in adults until recently; however, with the growing number of children suffering from obesity, Type 2 Diabetes is seen in children as young as five years old (Sahoo et al., 2015). The sudden peak of this disease occurring in children is so substantial because Type 2 Diabetes is a condition where the body has a hard time regulating blood sugar due to insulin resistance. This disease puts a toll on not only the child’s body, but their lifestyle, as well. For the body to create this resistance so early on in life presents evidence to show how serious physical inactivity and obesity is in children. Along with Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and respiratory problems such as asthma

In addition to that, many are unaware of how much physical activity children need. It is recommended that children get at least an hour of physical activity a day (Laurson, Lee, Gentile, Walsh, & Eisenmann, 2014). Obviously, if a child can get more active play in than that, then that is even healthier. Physical activity includes relatively any action that requires body movement and energy. These activities can be as simple as playing hide and seek, riding bicycles, going to the park, playing sports, or anything that gets the child moving. It is understandable that time restricts some of this, but if educational systems and parents both work to promote active children then it can alleviate this time