Technology`s Influence On Children Essay, Research Paper

The children of today are becoming more obese, for the fact that they are

obtaining laziness. They are spending more time in front of the television then

they are getting their daily exercise. Their growing bodies need exercise to

lose baby fat before it gets to be a serious problem. The growth of technology

has formed a major impact on the obesity of today?s children. This technology

has substituted normal childhood play exercises with computer games that take

less physical effort. Because of technology in today’s society the problem with

child obesity has become tremendously intensified. First, what is child obesity?

The term child obesity means a ?child is a person between birth and puberty

and obese is extremely fat: corpulent?(The American Heritage Dictionary

265,856). This disease is caused due to a lack of exercise and over-eating by a

child. Child obesity can cause many medical problems for a child that suffers

from such a disease. Obesty is a widespread disease that is growing incredibly

worse as technology increases. Furthermore, it is obvious that the lack of

exercise has a major part to do with child obesity; scientists blame the

television for a substitute to outdoor sports. Kids are spending more time watch

television than they are doing physical activities. ?The findings strongly

support the notion that the most important lifestyle factor in childhood obesity

is television watching?(Monmaney). The television brings the child?s

imagination to life, giving them entertainment to do without the running and

exercising of outdoor sports. The more television a child watches the more obese

the child will get. Next, the problem is getting so out of hand that the

government is going to have to start getting involved. Satcher and Shirley

Watkins, the undersecretary of agriculture for food, nutrition and consumer

services said that, "’TV increases obesity, stifles creativity and shortens

attention spans among young people’" (Bauder). This is their reason for

joining the campaign for a "TV-Free America." It is estimated that an

obese child watches an average of four hours and nine minutes of television each

day. That is four hours that a child could be bonding with their family or

taking action in some physical activity. Thus, problem with child obesity starts

as young as infancy. If the child’s parents do not stress exercise the child

will find an alternative way to occupy their time. For example, playing a game

cartridge rather than shooting hoops or flying a kite. The game cartridge

provides cheap entertainment with very little fitness involved. "Ross

Andersen recommends that parents find alternatives to watching television for

their children" (Joseph). A parent should do anything possible to get their

kids away from the television. Ether by making daily plans with timed intervals

limiting the amount of television the child can watch or signing them up for

YMCA sport activities. Even if the parent has a busy work schedule, make time to

benefit the child. Although, there are numerous amounts of prescription drugs

for child obesity, the side affects are too risky for the younger child. The

easiest way to solve this well-known disease is by stopping the problem before

it starts. ??If you can intervene with overweight children before they are

fully grown, you can often help them grow into their weight and prevent them

from becoming overweight adults. Some overweight children don?t need to lose

weight as much as they need to gain weight at a slower rate.?? (Discroll)

Moving on, some children do not need to lose weight, but need help growing into

the weight they already have. They can use help to slow the rate at which they

gain weight, making it easier for them to grow into it. Plus, the health risk

faced by children with the disease of child obesity is immense. ?More than 70

percent of all cases persist into adulthood?(Mellin). Obesity during adult

years is associated with increased rates of diseases such as hyperinsulinemia,

coronary heart disease, angina, atherosclerosis, various cancers, orthopedic

problems, and gout along with many other short-term and psychosocial

consequences of obesity in children. Thus, with the technology in today?s

society the problem with child obesity has largely intensified. The management

of obesity and overweight in children is an important issue. Before obesity can

be treated in children, it would be helpful to have a marker to identify

children who would likely become overweight or obese in adulthood. The parents

and children can get a jump on what they need to do to beat this disease. The

fight will not be easy but with the encouragement of the family they will be

able to beet it together.