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

  • Analyzing the Film Food Inc and the Propaganda Message for Positive Change

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...f television advertisements for junk food versus nutritious food on children's food attitudes and preferences. Social science & medicine, 65, (7), pp. 1311-1323.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dana Boyd And Don T Limit Your Teen's Screen Time

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Get off your phone.” “I’m taking that laptop away.” Many children have dealt with their parents barging into their rooms and telling them to get off their electronics. Parents believe it is not healthy and therefore should be restricted. The two articles, “Blame Society, Not the Screen Time” by Dana Boyd and “Don’t Limit Your Teen’s Screen Time” by Chris Bergman, both talk about how parents should not limit their kid’s screen time. Both authors are writing to parents of children who they think spend way too much time on their electronics. However, Dana Boyd has a much better compelling argument for not restricting teenager’s screen time. Boyd has a much better appeal to both audiences. She manages to employ better uses of both pathos and logos

    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

  • 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

  • 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: 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

  • Childhood Obesity

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forty years ago in America childhood obesity was rarely a topic of conversation. A survey done in the early 1970s showed that 6.1% of children between the ages 12 and 19 were overweight. Eight years later the same survey was done and 17.4% were considered overweight (Iannelli). “Childhood obesity epidemic in America is now a confirmed fact since the number of overweight or obese children has more than tripled during the last 30 years” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). “Over the last 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years has tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). As a nation statistics should be alarming. Why are American children today so obese?

    Read More

  • Childhood and Teenage Obesity

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese” (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry). That number is beyond outrageous. Steps must be taken to prevent this from continuing. Our children are our future; without them we won’t even have one. In a country where there is a vast amount of information available, many parents are ignorant to the ramifications or consequences of letting their children eat whatever they want in addition to the long term effect of allowing them to sit in front of a computer or television, as well as allowing them to play video games all day. Eight to 18-year old adolescents spend an average of 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media, including TV, computers, video games, cell phones and movies, and only one-third ...

    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

  • Weight Bias In The Media Summary

    444 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article, Weight Bias in the Media: A Review of Recent Research, Rheanna N. Ata and J. Kevin Thompson discuss the misrepresentation of overweight and obese people in the media. with the increase of overweight people worldwide, the first issue addressed was the disproportionate amount of overweight people on televisions. The statistics showed that only 13% of females and 24% of males on television are overweight. Another issue examined by Ata and Thompson was the way an overweight character was portrayed to children by the media.

    Read More

  • Does Violence in Video Games Contribute to Misconduct in Youth

    2002 Words  | 5 Pages

    The gaming industry is a leading company when it comes to entertainment, especially among young children and teens. Technology has become an enormous necessity in everyday life and many, whether young or old, always seem to have some form of it on their person at all times. It may be something as simple as car keys with an electronic lock system or even more common, the cell phone, but majority of the devices we have today have become, in a sense to some, basic necessities, objects that they cannot go a single day without. So why does everyone question why children are so glued to technology; parents provide it, encourage it, but when is it “too much?”. Then it comes down to television and video games. The vast majority of the youth of today are increasingly sucked in...

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact Of Technology On Children

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    As disclosed in the article, The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child, Chris Rowan acknowledges, “Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more TV, video games, and the latest iPads and cell phone devices, creating a deep and irreversible chasm between parent and child” (par. 7). In the parent’s perspective, technology has become a substitute for a babysitter and is becoming more convenient little by little. It is necessary for a growing child to have multiple hours of play and exposure to the outside world each day. However, the number of kids who would rather spend their days inside watching tv, playing video games, or texting is drastically increasing. Children are not necessarily the ones to be blamed for their lack of interest in the world around them, but their parents for allowing their sons and daughters to indulge in their relationship with technology so powerfully. Kids today consider technology a necessity to life, because their parents opted for an easier way to keep their children entertained. Thus resulting in the younger generations believing that technology is a stipulation rather than a

    Read More

  • Modern Technology and It's Effects

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    In our present society, people cannot deny that the changes in this world have been tied to the advancement of the technology. It has evolved with this society so deeply where such conveniences are no longer luxuries but rather necessities. Unfortunately, the most affected group of people from the developed technology is the younger age people (Subrahmanyam, 2000). In the past, children were more lively and active: playing outdoors, running around, climbing trees and remaining active rather than watching television and playing video game and computer. It is true that the use of the technology has its own virtue. It provides value, convenience and entertainment, but it should not take the place of movement and realistic play from the children. Obviously, modern technology such as television, digital game, cell phone, and computer should be considered as a major fact, which contributing to negative health problems in children.

    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

  • Children Should Not Use Smartphones Excessively

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children are becoming more obese. This is caused in part by a lack of physical activity. Smartphones are ...

    Read More

More about Media Influences on Childhood Obesity

Open Document