Teenage Obesity and Video Games
by Lizzie Reilly
Teens, Video Games, and Obesity
Nowadays, more and more teens are becoming obese. We need to take steps to stop this! A huge part of this is teens playing more and more video games without moving a muscle.
Children don't move a muscle
"Children with higher weight status spend moderate amounts of time playing electronic games. Children with a lower weight spend a little amount of time playing video games, if any at all." When a teen is playing a good video game that they enjoy, they don't want to get up and move around. They want to stay where they are, whether it's a couch or just the floor, they'll stay put.
Some effects of teen obesity are;
Adult Obesity
Becoming obese at such a young age can cause teens to change into obese adults.
Heart Attacks
When teens become obese, they don't move around for long periods of time, making their heart weaker.
Death
Not working out or even getting outside once in a while can cause death to obese teens.
Food Intake While Playing Video Games
Playing games increases food intake. "Playing video games causes children to increase their food intake and/or decrease their energy expenditure." When a child becomes obsessed with a certain video games, that's all they spend time on. No going outside, no exercising, nothing. Just inside all days playing on their toy. When a child is just sitting on the couch staring at the screen, what are they eating? They're eating junk food and soda. They lose sight of actually moving around and having fun outside.
Parents and Game Time
Parents rean't strict about fame time. "Among elementary and middle-school populations, girls play for an average of about 5.5 hours/week and boys average 13 hours/week", but teenage boys seem to be more active with video games. And now with more clid-friendly apps on iPads and iPhones, preschoolers aged 2-5 play and average of 28 minutes per day. This new generation is being raised by screens instead of their own parents.