Texting making kids fat?
What do you hear when you walk around your neighborhood? Where did all the squealing kids go? Apparently, they’re inside playing video games and surfing the net. Experts say this is contributing to a generation less active, overweight kids that are headed to a life of heart disease.
Childhood obesity experts say more American young people are becoming obese because so many are addicted to television, video games, texting and fast food.
A recent study found that the prevalence of overweight children and adolescents has tripled since 1970, while another revealed that the neck arteries in obese and overweight children were similar to those of 45-year-olds!
So why is this troubling? Because overweight and obese kids are at risk for developing medical problems that affect their present and future health and quality of life, including:
- high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes
- bone and joint problems
- shortness of breath that makes exercise, sports, or any physical activity more difficult and may aggravate the symptoms or increase the chances of developing asthma
- restless or disordered sleep patterns, such as obstructive sleep apnea
- liver and gall bladder disease
- depression
Sadly, schools haven't been helping the situation. School lunches are notoriously unhealthy, and physical education classes have been cut in an effort to meet national academic standards.
"You have video games. You have computers -- kids are tweeting and texting," says Lisa Summers, a long-time physical education teacher. "There's a lot of technology that promotes 'seat time' -- you just sit there."
Summers says the average youth should get about 30 minutes of exercise daily. But by the time she meets most teenagers in high school, Summers says, it's difficult to get them moving.
"Man, that's a tough task," she says. "We in high school look at ourselves as their last chance before they go into the adult world."
So what are the solutions?
- Require more physical education classes
- Improve the nutritional value of school meals
- Encourage kids to play more sports and put away the video games and cell phones.
What can you do?
- Write down a fitness goal, give it to a friend and have them send it to you in a month to see how far you've come
- Challenge your teachers to a sports match against their students.
- Produce a brochure about healthy living and distribute it in your school