Child obesity being caused by rapid growth in technology

Whether you've seen it in the news, street, schools etc... You can't argue at the fact that the child population in these firstworld countries are becoming increasingly obese and lazy. Do you think this could be due an increase in technological advancement? I for one do believe so. This is because although people are more self conscious about how they look than before technology in my opinion has given us the opportunity to run away from the truth. For example, most of these obese children stay indoors and mainly in their room playing video games. They do this because they can be whoever they want in their game. They can become the super athletic hero that saves anyone and for those 2-3 hours the game is played they forget about who they are. That's just one example but I do feel that technology is destroying our health.

Reply 1

Veggiechic6

Child obesity is complex, I think technology has definitely played a part but it's only one part of the story.

Reply 2

stinkysockdraw

Original post by Veggiechic6

Child obesity is complex, I think technology has definitely played a part but it's only one part of the story.

What do you think are the other main factors ?

Reply 3

MatureStudent36

Original post by stinkysockdraw

What do you think are the other main factors ?

Lazy parenting.

Reply 4

TroyAndAbed

Where are these fatties the news is always telling us about? Maybe I'm just fortunate & live in a healthy area but I rarely see fat kids waddling around.

Reply 5

shawn_o1

I guess you'd be more likely to be obese if you were still being pushed around in a pram 12 months after you were born

Reply 6

Veggiechic6

Original post by stinkysockdraw

What do you think are the other main factors ?

I think changes in family structure are another contributing factor. More women are working, so they're spending less time at home, less time to take young children out to the park, less time to cook a proper meal so more families are eating higher fat convenience food in front of the TV.

Also there's been rising concern about children's safety. I read an article recently stating that most parents won't allow their children to play outside because of a fear culture that didn't really exist when we were kids; we had more freedom. I feel a bit sorry for kids these days. I had a megadrive computer as a kid but playing out always came first (I'm 27).

Reply 7

stinkysockdraw

Original post by TroyAndAbed

Where are these fatties the news is always telling us about? Maybe I'm just fortunate & live in a healthy area but I rarely see fat kids waddling around.

The problem doesn't lie with people just looking fat but it also lies with people 'acting' fat. A lot of my friends at school spend their free time playing video games and eating crap food. Most teens have their social interactions on social media platforms such as 'whatsapp' or 'facebook'. It's not purely an external problem that we see on the outside. Kids in primary schools have only one hour sessions a week of PE which in my opinion is shocking. Your health is your wealth

Reply 8

stinkysockdraw

Original post by Veggiechic6

I agree with you. It's a shame that children now days don't always have their mother at home long enough to make them home cooked meals but what amazes me is that the government haven't intervened on food prices. It's so much cheaper to go down to a fast food joint and pick up a burger meal for as low as £1 that i've seen. Even if you go looking for healthy food it's far too expensive.

Reply 9

Smash Bandicoot

'being encouraged to sit down and stare at screens for long periods of time makes people prone to losing muscle tone and putting on weight'

'losing muscle tone, putting on weight and not losing it over time makes people fat'

this is news?

Reply 10