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Tim Gayle Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 4/27/13 Does Playing Video Games Contribute To Childhood Obesity?

Are you a gamer? If your answer is yes, were you aware that video games could eventually lead to psychological affects such as depression and also physical illnesses like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type two diabetes? I bet you want to reconsider picking up the gaming controller to shoot zombies now dont you? If that is not a big enough wake up call, then I dont what is. The children of this era are getting hooked on playing video games rather than going out to play a sport or get any type of physical activity. Childhood obesity is one of the greatest health challenges facing the United States. More than twenty three million children and teens in the United States are overweight or obese. This number represents a four-fold increase in rates over the past four decades, writes Debbie Fleming. Our society is hurting ourselves. On average, children between the ages of eight and eight teen spend seven and a half hours using some sort of entertainment media. They are watching TV, playing video games, on a computer, on a cell phone or watching a movie. All of these activities promote limited physical activity and expose children to advertisements of less healthy food (Fleming). Consuming an access of calories and not receiving an adequate amount of physical activity is the major cause of childhood obesity. Video games play a huge role in causing a sedentary lifestyle, which leads to obesity.

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(Hemmelgarn) Video games have progressed over the years tremendously. Atari was one of the first video games that came out in 1972. That was later followed and upgraded by SEGA, then Nintendos Super Nintendo, then Sonys Playstations 1,2 and 3, then Microsofts Xbox and lastly, Nintendos Wii. Throughout the progression of video game systems, many things improved. For example, the quality of the graphics were enhanced, a variety of games were produced including virtual games, and now kids can play online with their friends in a chat room, or party. The online chat rooms enable people to communicate with other friends or other people. The whole concept of playing games with friends online replaces the idea of walking to your friends, knocking on their door, and asking them to come out and play. The amount of technology that has been invented and improved over the years making physical activity almost non-existent is crazy. With that said, video games become a hobby to many kids growing up. This is a problem because it causes multiple bad habits. A study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics discovered that excessive

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gaming could potentially cause over eating, depression, and anxiety, which all leads to weak performance in school. Researchers have also discovered that out of 3,000 United States middle school children, almost nine percent of them were addicted to gaming. The addicted gamers showed more of a positive result for acquiring depression than the kids who occasionally play video games. Addicted gamers average more than thirty-one hours a week. (Wade) A study in the Journal of Pediatrics said: One-third of children living in different parts of the world are obese. It was reported over 70,000 teenagers from 34 different nations are overweight or obese. It is called a sedentary lifestyle - 'spending three hours or more per day watching TV, playing computer games, or chatting with friends' - is the main reason behind the figure. Only 25 percent of the boys and 15 percent of the girls get enough exercise. (Ingham) With childhood obesity being an increasing problem in todays society, there are many organizations and groups that are helping promote physical fitness and healthy lifestyles. For example, Lets Move, created by First Lady Michelle Obama, was made to promote children to get up and exercise. The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake, said Michelle Obama, is what made her want to make a positive difference in our country (Learn The Facts). The rates for obesity have tripled in the last thirty years. Today, almost one in every three kids is considered to be obese. This generation is very different from the one thirty years ago. Kids used to go to school, play outside at recess, partook in physical education class, and would want to rush home from school to go play outside with friends (Learn the Facts).

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For example, I myself was never into video games. I would go to school always looking forward for recess and gym. To me, that was the best two parts of elementary school. Also, I would get home, rush through my homework, and try to get outside and play with neighborhood friends before it got too dark out. I can remember my mother always begging me to come in for dinner or to come in to finish homework. This generation lives a different lifestyle. Schools have cut gym classes, after school sports have disappeared, and now after school activities involve television, video games, and computers. Kids come home from school, grab junk food to snack on, and sit themselves in front of the television for hours. Some kids will skip completing their homework just to play video games sooner. This is what causes their grades to drop in school, creates a sedentary lifestyle, and leads to children becoming extremely lazy. Why get up when they have their snack, drink, and game in front of them? With the parents occupied with work and the kids glued to the television, it is hard for the kids to receive a healthy home cooked meal. Lets Move tries to get children on the right track of exercising and eating healthy by setting up a report that tells children/parents the right foods to eat and the correct amount of exercise the kids need on a daily basis. It also provides information for parents and schools to serve healthier foods at a reasonable quantity. (Learn the Facts)

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(Simon) A combination of physical activity and healthy eating is necessary to living a healthy life. Living a healthy lifestyle can help prevent major illnesses such as cancer, stokes, and heart diseases. It can also help stop the risk of becoming obese, build muscle, and keep your bones strong. Kids should be participating in at least an hour of physical activity per day, five times a week. They should also replace the junk food snacks with fruit and vegetables. (Get Active) As a counter argument, some people will say that video games do not cause obesity. There are video games such as the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect that are virtual video games that include movement to participate in the game. The Nintendo Wii uses wireless controller that gets waved around in sync with the Wii monitor. The Xbox Kinect is like a camera that is motion sensitive that follows your every move. Studies have shown that kids who play the Nintendo Wii burn more calories than the normal video game, but not as much as they would if they took part in real life sports and activities. The Nintendo Wii sells games such as Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Just Dance that make the players get off the couch and get involved in physical activity. I have played a game on Playstation 2 called Dance Dance Revolution, and after one song, I was working up a serious sweat. There

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was a study performed at Liverpool John Moores University that involved six boys and six girls around the ages of thirteen to fifteen. They played Wii Tennis and researchers discovered that the kids burned 179 calories in just an hour, compared to a kid at rest who only burned 70 calories. An approximated 270 calories would be burned playing real tennis. Even though playing the Wii games does not burn as much calories as real sports, the physical activity needed to play the game is a step up from sedentary video games. (Wii Video Workouts Dont Beat Real Sports) One of the researchers said: The exercise was not intense enough to contribute towards the recommended amount of daily physical activity for children. Neverthelessthe children were on their feet and they moved in all directions while performing basic motor control and fundamental movement skills that were not evident during seated gaming. Given the current prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity, such positive behaviors should be encouraged. (Wii Video Workouts Dont Beat Real Sports)

(Herold)

(Howard)

Obesity is one of the nations biggest and growing problems today. There are many factors that cause obesity. One of the major factors is living a sedentary lifestyle caused by

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playing an excessive amount of video games. Video games cause bad habits such as making them a priority over schoolwork, over eating junk food, and sitting on a couch for hours, which creates laziness. I believe that video games play a big role in causing a sedentary lifestyle. With that said, I do think that the exercising games on the Wii and Xbox Kinect are a good start to making video games more physically active. These games will continue to improve and help burn more calories. I also think that any type of video games being played should be played in moderation. As a parent, you still have to regulate and monitor what theyre doing, Dr. Lanningham-Foster said. It still boils down to limits. (Moving Beyond Joysticks, and Off the Couch) I am curious to see what the future holds with video games. Will video game designers make time limits on how long you can play video games for? Will there be more virtual games that help burn more calories? Will these types of advancements make the childhood obesity rates decrease?

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Works Cited Fleming, Debbie Howes. "Health: Children Obesity An Increasing Problem In The United States. The State Journal: Frankfort, Kentucky. N.p., 15 Septe 2012. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

"Get Active." Let's Move!. N.p.. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Hemmelgarn, Melinda. "Childhood Obesity 101: A Parent's Primer for Prevention." Organic Valley . N.p.. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Herold, Charles. "The Ultimate Wii: Creating the Ultimate Wii Setup." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Ingham, Tim. "Games Causing Child Obesity." ComputerAndVideoGames.com. N.p., 03 Apr 2010. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

"Learn The Facts". Let's Move!. Association of Educational Publishers.. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Pope, Tara Parker. "Moving Beyond Joysticks, and Off the Couch." The New York Times. N.p., 27 Novem 2007. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Pope, Tara Parker. "Wii Video Workouts Dont Beat Real Sports." The New York Times. N.p., 27 Decem 2007. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

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Simon, Michele. "Celebrity Central: Michelle Obama." People. Karen Kovacs., n.d. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Simon, Michele. "Michelle Obamas Lets Move After Year One: Little More than PR?." For Profit. N.p., 24 Apr 2011. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

Wade, Leslie. "Excess Gaming Linked to Depression, Bad Health." CNN Health. CNN., 17 Janua 2011. Web. 9 Apr 2013.

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