The rate at which childhood obesity is growing is very alarming. In the United States one in every three children are overweight. As the world of video and computer games grows our children are spending less and less time outdoors getting good healthy exercise. Are the two connected?
Are Video Games Affecting Your Child’s Weight?
First you need to determine if your child is overweight. You can either speak to your doctor about this or you can use charts to measure it for yourself. If you determine that your child is indeed overweight the next step is to determine if the video game is what has caused the weight gain or if it contributes to other problems affecting weight gain. Evaluate the amount of weight gain and when it began, how much sedentary time does your child have? Has your child become less active? Look for other symptoms that may need to be reported to the physician. All weight gain in children is not simply due to video games there could be medical causes for weight gain as well. You should research and record your child’s habits including the amount of time sedentary, amount of activity and their eating habits so that your doctor can determine if there are medical concerns for the weight gain.
Protect Your Child from Video Games Disadvantages on Children Obesity
We want the best for our children and we want them to have what they want. And we give it to them. They want video games, we buy them. Placing limits on the amount of time they play them is generally not a welcome solution for them. Video games do offer some advantages for your children such as improved hand eye coordination and improved decision making. There needs to be a balance between time spent in front of video games, time outdoors exercising and good nutrition to maintain a healthy weight for your child.
You can encourage video game that requires physical interaction which will help your child get some activity as an alternative to the game where they simply sit, stare and push buttons on a hand held control. These types of games still give the other benefits and add some physical activity as well.
Video Games Disadvantages on Children Obesity – Parental Influence
Children learn by the examples set forth by their parents. If you are spending hours each day playing video or computer games your children are more likely to follow suit. Make a pact with your child to set limits on game time and then spend some quality time together outdoors. Perhaps your child would enjoy riding bikes with you or you could coach their little league team or cheer squad. If you simply tell the child they need to limit game time and get outside and exercise they will most likely reject the idea as a punishment. If you do not dole it out as a restriction but rather as an enjoyable time spent with family they may be more open to the idea.
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