With increase in nuclear families and fewer opportunities for children to play in open spaces, many children are resorting to viewing screens of any kind. This results in children becoming overweight, as per a new research study.
Why do children view screens?
There are various factors that result in children often taking to viewing screens as part of an entertainment. The main reasons are lack of open space for the children to play, lack of friends of same age for the young children to play, etc. Often children see their parents viewing television and often follow their path and think that it’s the right thing to do. Once the children start seeing some programs which are of interest to them, it becomes an addictive habit afterwards.
What do the various screens include?
The screens that child’s view include television, big screens, viewing of movies or other programs in electronic devices like Ipads, etc. Whenever children spend time in seeing something where there is no interaction required, it is considered as an idle time spent by children in viewing screens.
Are children becoming overweight by merely seeing screens?
As per a study conducted, it has been found that when children spend more time in viewing screens, they tend to become overweight. The more disheartening part is that, as children become older, the overweight continues and ultimately become obese.
Obese Children
It has been found that about 11 percentage of the kids who were less than 2 years of age became overweight over the next two to three years, once they spent more time in front of screens. Also, the Hispanic children, American children, Indian and Alaska children had more chances of getting obese when compared to the whites. Also, once the children became obese, there were very less chances of them becoming less weight.
Influencing factors resulting in children becoming overweight
When children spend too much time in front of screens, they are often forced to consume any snacks whether they are healthy or not. Very often, the snacks that they take are practically unhealthy in nature. Also, the commercials that they see in the screens also temp the children to try new snacks which are often unhealthy.
Also, as the children tend to spend more time, their brains tend to stop functioning and tend to go into a hibernate state inside a couch. This is not good for a child’s health.
Average time to view screens
The average time for which children can spend in front of a screen is only a maximum of two hours per day. This includes the time viewed for the program and for the commercials. If children are able to spend less than two hours per day in front any screens, it doesn’t t have much impact on the children to add weight. Also, it is better for the children to spend time playing games or working in computers or iPad, since there is manual interaction needed and since the children need to keep their brains active.
What should we do?
As parents, we should not be spending too much time in front of the screens. We need to make our children play in grounds and parks along with other children, since it result in good development of motor skills in the child. We need to make sure that our children see only some limited good programs for a scheduled time of the day. We should also try spending more time with them playing and talking, so that they do not get bored and ultimately end up sitting in front of a screen.
There are various factors that result in children often taking to viewing screens as part of an entertainment. The main reasons are lack of open space for the children to play, lack of friends of same age for the young children to play, etc. Often children see their parents viewing television and often follow their path and think that it’s the right thing to do. Once the children start seeing some programs which are of interest to them, it becomes an addictive habit afterwards.
What do the various screens include?
The screens that child’s view include television, big screens, viewing of movies or other programs in electronic devices like Ipads, etc. Whenever children spend time in seeing something where there is no interaction required, it is considered as an idle time spent by children in viewing screens.
Are children becoming overweight by merely seeing screens?
As per a study conducted, it has been found that when children spend more time in viewing screens, they tend to become overweight. The more disheartening part is that, as children become older, the overweight continues and ultimately become obese.
Obese Children
It has been found that about 11 percentage of the kids who were less than 2 years of age became overweight over the next two to three years, once they spent more time in front of screens. Also, the Hispanic children, American children, Indian and Alaska children had more chances of getting obese when compared to the whites. Also, once the children became obese, there were very less chances of them becoming less weight.
Influencing factors resulting in children becoming overweight
When children spend too much time in front of screens, they are often forced to consume any snacks whether they are healthy or not. Very often, the snacks that they take are practically unhealthy in nature. Also, the commercials that they see in the screens also temp the children to try new snacks which are often unhealthy.
Also, as the children tend to spend more time, their brains tend to stop functioning and tend to go into a hibernate state inside a couch. This is not good for a child’s health.
Average time to view screens
The average time for which children can spend in front of a screen is only a maximum of two hours per day. This includes the time viewed for the program and for the commercials. If children are able to spend less than two hours per day in front any screens, it doesn’t t have much impact on the children to add weight. Also, it is better for the children to spend time playing games or working in computers or iPad, since there is manual interaction needed and since the children need to keep their brains active.
What should we do?
As parents, we should not be spending too much time in front of the screens. We need to make our children play in grounds and parks along with other children, since it result in good development of motor skills in the child. We need to make sure that our children see only some limited good programs for a scheduled time of the day. We should also try spending more time with them playing and talking, so that they do not get bored and ultimately end up sitting in front of a screen.
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