Get Your Lazy Kids off the Couch
With the technology we have now days, kids have so many different electronics to play with; they’ve lost their sense of adventure and creativity. It’s rare to see kids playing with anything other than their mom’s iPhone, iPad, iPod, computer or watching TV. If they don’t have one of these items, they’re not satisfied; they’re ‘bored.’ Childhood obesity has doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years, could technology be the cause of this?
According to Sparkpe.org, there is a direct correlation between the amount of TV watched and levels of obesity. The most obese adolescents are the ones who spend the most time in front of the television. On average 25 percent of a child’s day is spent either watching TV or playing video games. Debate.org argues that technology is a contributing factor towards increasing obesity rates because, as other forms of passive electronic entertainment gained prominence in our society, so did the rates of obesity. The easiest way to prevent this is to go to the park for an hour instead, or enrolling in an after school sport. There is no excuse to not go outside and be active for an hour a day, especially considering the energy kids have.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that, children from ages 6-11 in the United States who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 2010, and adolescents from ages 12-19 increased from 5 percent to 18 percent in the same time period. That makes more than one third of children and adolescents overweight or obese. Most people do not realize the long term effects of childhood obesity. They are more likely to develop heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, or become prone to several types of cancer. These can be life threatening consequences. They are also twice as likely to be obese as adults.
In the past twenty years electronics have advanced immensely. You can do almost anything at the touch of your fingertips. Now it’s possible to call, text, and email from a smart phone, you can type an address into a GPS and follow the directions on the screen. Everything we do has slowly become subconscious, if you have a question “Google it.” Maybe this is the problem; you no longer have to walk down the street to ask your friend something, you can just text them. Interaction is unnecessary, therefore making labor avoidable.

When a child is screaming and crying, parents used to give them a toy, or stuffed animal to calm them down, but now the go-to ‘toy’ seems to be their phone or tablet. Once they see how fun these games are they will not quit crying until they’re given the phone or tablet. However, there is a solution for this problem. The creators of Kindle FreeTime stated, Kindle FreeTime lets you set limits on how long your kids can watch and play, and lets them know when their time is up, so you don’t have to. This hinders the argument of ‘five more minutes!’ It also lets them know that it’s time to go find something else to do, in hopes they will go outside and be imaginative.
On the other hand, is it possible that it is the parents fault? According to Mark Griffiths, psychology professor at Nottingham Trent University, "If a child is spending too long on an iPad, then this is purely the parents’ fault." Gemma Finney disagrees stating, "I am the kind of mum who said, ‘My kids are not going to spend their life glued to technology.’ I want them to play outside in the fresh air. But like many mums I feel helpless because technology is taking over their lives." While another parent, Shona Shibary shares, "With the demands of family life it's easier to plonk her in front of a screen, which I do regularly, than try to entertain her.” This shows that parents are quick to blame technology, when really it’s their fault for letting their kids become so attached.
I surveyed students at Woodland Park High School on whether they thought childhood activities have changed since they were kids. Approximately 80% of them said yes for the following reasons: new electronics and indoor activities, technology is more sophisticated, more electronics means more interest, kids are becoming lazy, and they are being consumed but technology, they have less interaction, and more options. The other 20 percent students claimed that kids are using technology and playing inside, but they are also going outside too, and that they’re not necessarily less active but less creative, and finally that it depends on if they play sports or not.
Another survey I conducted at Woodland Park High School, was on a scale from one to ten how willing they would be to give up all electronics for one week, one being not willing at all, while ten was extremely willing. About 25 percent of the group responded with five, not totally against the idea, but also apprehensive to it. Another 25 percent of them said eight, stating that they were more open to the idea. There were only two people that said absolutely, another two people that said absolutely not, and a few in between. This is surprising to me though, because I have a feeling that if teenagers had all of their electronic devices taken away for a whole week, they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves, and they would regret their decision.
Ultimately, obesity and technology correspond with one another and with growing technological advancements come growing obesity rates. Besides trying to raise awareness of this issue, and kids being more active there’s no solid solution for this matter. Statistics may be rising because of many other factors, so it’s hard to say one cause of it. However, just because someone is overweight or obese doesn’t make them ‘addicted’ to technology, and visa versa.