Media Influences on Childhood Obesity

1279 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of media on individuals

Recently my 13 year old brother received his second phone, an IPhone 4s. I could not believe it a 13 year old carrying around one of the best pieces of technology in our world. Since then my brother’s free time outside running around has decreased drastically. His eyes and hands are glued to his IPhone 4s. Finding him playing basketball or throwing a football around in my yard when I go home on the weekends has become less and less. This is just one of thousands of children whose physical activity has suffered due to technology. Today our society has created the perception to children that without the latest technology they are not ‘cool’ or even worse poor. Kids then beg their parents for updated technology in order to fit in. Face it even adults these days need the latest technology to stay updated with their work. The routine of most children that come home from school is eat, watch tv, see some more commercials on food and video games and continue the awful habit they’ve created. The urge to play outside or get involved in a team is less appealing then beating their record at Call of Duty while getting a sugar high. Our world is creating an environment where playing Candy Crush is more popular than playing a sport. Thirty-two percent of children ages 2-19 are overweight and seventeen percent is considered to be obese (Hingle, Dale). The media influence on the youth shows a positive correlation to childhood obesity.
Times have changed and due to this new technological era that we live in, children are spoiled with various types as well as numerous electronic devices. Although these advances are rewarding, they are detrimental to the youth. From xbox to television watching children spend more time trapped in their house, t...

... middle of paper ...

...h calorie foods which influence young children in the decision making process.

Works Cited

Hingle, Melanie, and Dale Kunkel. "Childhood Obesity and the Media." Pediatric clinics of North America 59.3 (2012): 677. Print.
Kunkel, Dale. "Media Research Contributes to the Battle Against Childhood Obesity." Health communication 25.6-7 (2010): 595-6. Print.
Obama, Michele. “Remarks to the NAACP National Convention.” They Say I Say with Readings. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. 2nd ed. NY: W.W Norton & Company Inc. 2012. 417-433 Print.
Powell LM, Schermbeck RM, Szczypka G, Chaloupka FJ, Braunschweig CL. Trends in the Nutritional Content of Television Food Advertisements Seen by Children in the United States: Analyses by Age, Food Categories, and Companies. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011;165(12):1078-1086. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.131.

Show More
Related

  • Should Parents Lose Custody of Extremely Obese Kids?

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the recent decades, obesity has grown into a major health issue in the United States within young people. With 31 percent of the United States of children being obese, the United States has become the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world. Obesity is not only found among adults, but it is also now found mainly among children and teenagers. The childhood is a very important period for the initiation of obesity especially in this time. Eating practices that children are taught or learn during childhood affects a person later in their life whether they know or not. Multiple studies have confirmed that childhood obesity in the U.S has been on a rise for years. One out of three children in the U.S are obese, most of them face a higher risk of having medical, social and academic problems. Childhood obesity also leads to many health problems among young people. Those problems include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many more others. These problems cause a rise in health care costs that their families might have to pay sooner or later. The influence of parents and the media play a big role in causing these problems to happen. Some people believe that a family with an obese child should not raise child protection concerns if obesity is the only cause for concern (Callaghan, 2010). However, doctors should always be mindful of the possible role of abuse or neglect in contributing to obesity. The result of some research that was done on the symptoms of neglect shows a clear correlation between childhood abuse and obesity in childhood. A study of American school children has found that after controlling for socioeconomic status, those who were physically abused were more likely to be obese (Callaghan, 201...

    Read More

  • Justice and Social Order in Antigone

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hype words like ‘epidemic’ have been used to stress the relevance of obesity in today’s generation. The situation has been mainly accredited to poor parenting as well as the accessibility of high sugar and low quality food in developmental stages. However, this issue is not limited to cost and upbringing. It is crucial for parents to be aware of the media that exists encouraging children to partake in challenges similar to what is seen on Man v. Food.

    Read More

  • Campaigning for Real Beauty: Dove® and Changing Stereotypical Body Images as Seen in the Media

    3016 Words  | 7 Pages

    Morris, A. M., & Katzman, D. K. (2003, May). The impact of the media on eating

    Read More

  • Problems with Obesity in America

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times. 12 September 2011. Print.

    Read More

  • Obesity in Children Across America

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Hope for Childhood Obesity.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 6 Aug.

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served as great daily exercise. Physical activity is a key necessity in keeping a healthy lifestyle. With the advancement of technology and the growing popularity of video games and television, fewer children are getting exercise. Stationary activities, such as video games and watching T.V., are keeping children inside and away from exercise. To blame just the kids for this lack of exercise would be wrong. The parents are the ones responsible for giving the children these games, but that is not all bad. Where it does turn bad however, is when the kids are given these games or televisions without a time restraint. Through research, they have found that 26% of children watch television for more than four hours a day. In efforts to encourage outside playtime for kids, Nickelodeon shut down programming daily from noon to 3pm. This seemed to be a great idea, but does it really help? Children are in school session Monday through Friday from 8am 3pm. The time Nickelodeon chose to go dark is the same time child...

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders

    2394 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Obesity." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

    Read More

  • Caloric Intake and Childhood Obesity

    2753 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Childhood Obesity." Childhood Obesity on the Rise. Mayo Clinic, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 02 Mar.

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity: Fast Food Companies Are To Blame

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to “Burger Battles” from the Weekly Reader, obesity is defined as a person whose weight is 20 percent higher than recommended for their height (Burger Battles 1). When this condition begins to affect children lives, it is then known as childhood obesity. Within the United States of America, around 15 percent of children are considered to be obese (Holguin 3). Increasing tremendously, this outbreak has actually tripled in the amount of obese teen and doubled in children up to the age of thirteen (Burger Battles 2). One of the factors that is usually overlooked in the cause for obesity is the role of television. Not only does it reduce the amount of physical activity, the advertisements and commercials are targeting innocent viewers. In a survey completed by Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert, the average child watches nearly 19 hours and 40 minutes of television a week (Ruskin 2). With that amount of time spent watching television, advertisements for fast food will be entering the children’s minds.

    Read More

  • Killer at Large: Childhood Obesity in America

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    Did you know that 35% of the United States population is considered obese? Also, 66% of the population is considered overweight or more? (Saint Onge 2014) Even more frightening, in 2012 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than one third of children and adolescents in America were overweight or obese (CDC 2014). The media sources used investigates the political, scientific, historical, and cultural reasons behind the childhood obesity epidemic in America. Obesity is a rapid growing epidemic in America and these sources present the facts causing this epidemic. As well as how the children of the American society are being wrongly influenced by the media, especially advertisments. (Greenstreet 2008).

    Read More

  • Public Health Issue of Obesity

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. Gollust, S. E. (2014). Framing the consequences of childhood obesity . American Journal of Health Promotion to Increases Public Support for Obesity Prevention Policy, 28(3), 189.

    Read More

  • Social Effects Of Childhood Obesity

    1944 Words  | 4 Pages

    The proportion of overweight children (six to eleven years old) climbed from twenty percent in the period from 1976 to 1980 to twenty-seven percent between 1988 and 1994. Approximately five million children and adolescents are now classified as obese. Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. These statistics are proof every year the rate of obesity is increasing, making obesity one of the most common diseases in childhood. Today, many children are too focused on technology that they never consider going out or doing any physical activities. Children that have obesity try not to show that they are emotionally hurting because they do not want to be teased or bullied. Many people only focus on the physical repercussions

    Read More

  • Advertising and its Effect on Childhood Obesity

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Termini, Roseann B., Thomas A. Roberto, and Shelby G. Hostetter. "Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity: A Call to Action for Proactive Solutions." ERIC. N.p., 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Effect of Technology on Children

    1973 Words  | 4 Pages

    First and foremost, health problems due to the increase in technology usage is becoming a bigger issue than one might think. With technology becoming a bigger factor in everyday life, diseases and other health issues that used to be less prevalent are now becoming epidemics (Rowan). For example, obesity, which is a condition in which a person is very fat or overweight. Obesity is caused by not getting a proper diet and exercise. Technology is causing this to become an epidemic in children, because children need at least sixty minutes of physical exercise a day and when they are watching TV, on the computer, or playing video games, they are not physically active (Loop). Also, when children are less active and on electronics, they are more likely to eat food that is not healthy for them, such as high calorie junk foods (Martin). With obesity can come many other diseases or health problems. For example, people who are obese are more likely to develop heart problems, diabetes, or high bl...

    Read More

  • Negative Effects from Technology Use on Teens

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    Teens used technology consuming excessive amounts of exercise time throughout the day that caused the physical health problem of obesity. Teens were physically active throughout the day before technology was fully exposed to teens. According to the article, Obesity in Children and Technology, Cespedes (2013) stated “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 10 percent of preschool age children and 15 percent of 6- to 19-year olds, can be considered overweight. In addition to eating more processed, high calorie foods, active play has been supplanted by technology” (para.4). Teens would take more time outdoors riding bikes, playing at the parks, walking with friends, and swimming at indoor pools that caused them to burn calories while having fun. Most of technology today was at a sedentary state that replaced many of the outdoor activities with teens playing sport video games, using their smartphones, and browsing the internet on the computer or tablets for coun...

    Read More

More about Media Influences on Childhood Obesity

Open Document