Child Obesity - Research Says Smartphones Are the Culprit
Regular use of the phone among kids less than 13 years old is resulting into the health issues. The impact of smartphones on health can be easily noticed.
New research links rising child obesity rates to excessive smartphone use, highlighting the need for balanced screen time and healthier lifestyle habits.
It is a common scene in a room with a toddler. A small child sits in a high chair and constantly fixes his eyes on a phone and looking into cartoons regularly. Full entertainment is here, each spoon of food going into his mouth is going down effortlessly. For the mothers and caregivers, it is completely a stress free solution to let the kid eat the food. When this excessive screen time becomes troublesome for your children, you never know.
Now, smartphone addiction in children has completely changed their lifestyle. Outdoor play has been replaced by online games. In India, the growing dependence on smartphones is quietly fueling a much larger fear. It is a rising wave of childhood obesity that many families are still underestimating.
Just at the age of 12, more than 6,500 participants owned a smartphone among 1000. As compared with those who did not own a personal phone, children who owned one had higher odds of facing health issues like depression, obesity, and inadequate sleep.
Among 3,500 children who did not have a smartphone at age 12, 1, 50 acquired one by age 13. The phone results in the higher odds of reporting clinical-level mental health symptoms and inadequate sleep.
According to Dr Vijay Yewale, head of paediatrics at Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, ‘Even kids as young as five are showing signs of weight gain, with smartphones being used as pacifiers during meals or study breaks.’
Obesity, depression, and poor sleep are the top risk factors for life-threatening illnesses. It can be heart disease, cancer and diabetes. It directly affects millions of students every year.
