subject: The Danger Of Television And Childhood Obesity [print this page] This was just on the Channel 5 KTLA this past Tuesday on the 9 pm news in their Health Watch section which was quite surprising. In short, this is what the reporter said: "Too much television can increase your child's risk of obesity. Doctors say a TV in the bedroom can make it even worse. New research finds kids with a tv in their room are 3 times more likely to be overweight increasing the risk of obesity."
This does raise concerns for parents who have children that prefer to be glued to the sofa watching tv, movies, or playing video games. Excessive exposure to this type of entertainment translates to less time for outdoor, physical activities and regular opportunities to eat an excessive amount of food.
How times have changed over the past two decades.
When I was growing up in the early 80s, the Atari video game system was just coming to the consumer market. I vaguely remember before that an ancient bi-color video pong game played on the living room television set which had a dotted line running down the center of the screen, with two independently control paddles (darker lines) acting as the racquets which would hit the ball (a large circular dot) back and forth with the speed gradually increasing as the game progressed.
As boring as that may seem compared to today's standards, that was revolutionary back in the day. However, even though it was a novel concept, there were so many other activities to do outside even this new video game system did not rule my world. Maybe it was the way my parents raised us, or the fact that there were quite a number of similar aged children on our street and we always played together, but the fact of the matter is, the television in no way ruled my life.
Naturally it is more difficult these days to get kids to disconnect from technology especially when it is so portable and visually stimulating. Nevertheless, parents still need to be cognizant of the time children spend glued to a screen, especially if they have gotten in the habit of snacking while doing so.
If you do permit your children time in front of the TV or computer, just ensure they are not regularly consuming bags of potato chips and liters upon liters of soda. With childhood obesity on a drastic rise, and kids these days becoming more technologically connected, we have to keep in mind how detrimental it can be if day after day we allow them to devour unhealthy snacks and not get any type of physical activity whatsoever.
Try and find a balance between time spent indoors with technology and outdoor activities. If that is not possible, be sure the snacks your kids munch on are healthy choices.
Remember - Your house, your rules. No if's, and's, or but's about that fact. If your children are going to watch tv, play video games, or use the computer, at least make sure the food they snack on will be a healthy option for them.
