The Effects of Viewing Television Has on Child Obesity

Since television was first introduced, it has grabbed the attention of many. Allowing families to gather with one another and spend time watching their favorite shows. Though now it seems that television is playing a new role in many people’s everyday life by taking large amount of their free time. Many adults sit and watch hours of TV every day and now the trait is passing down to their youth. Children would prefer to watch TV, than rather be outside playing sports or doing other types of physical activities. Now the focus of child obesity is at an all-time high with many organizations such as “Shape Up America” calling on Americans to change their habits for the better. They are …show more content…

This decreases the amount of physical activity, and increases the intake of higher calorie foods.
Less physically active children are more likely to be overweight and/or obese, because they are burning fewer calories daily. Children who are unable to spend an appropriate amount of time doing physical activities are not able to burn off calories from the food they eat. To burn off calories, physical activity is need such as exercise, playing outside, or playing sports. Children who spend most of their time inside are less likely to be as physically active as those who do not. Watching television is a large part of why children spend most of their time inside. They become very overwhelmed in their shows, and would rather stay inside and watch the shows then go play outside. This is a risk factor of becoming overweight and possibly obese if this trend continues. Children who are active are not as likely to be overweight, and have less risk factors for later health problems. Although television is not directly to blame for child obesity, television does have a large role in the increased amount of child obesity for two main reasons. First, the diets of many children are high in calories, and watching extended amount of television allows the calories to turn in to fat. They get caught up watching their shows for hours a day, and do not burn the amount of calories necessary to prevent fat growth. Then, most importantly, extended