Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Smartphones, Tablets and Weight Gain in Teens

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- Teenagers glued to their pill, smartphone or laptop for hours on finish could also be extra prone to grow to be overweight, a brand new examine suggests.

Those that used display gadgets for 5 or extra hours each day had been twice as prone to drink extra sugary drinks and have interaction in too little bodily exercise, the researchers discovered.

In consequence, these teenagers confirmed a 43 p.c elevated danger of weight problems in contrast with youngsters who do not use smartphones or tablets in any respect. However the examine didn't show that prime use of those applied sciences brought on weight problems danger to rise.

"Mother and father needs to be cautious with their youngsters when it comes to how a lot they're utilizing these gadgets, particularly in the event you see your little one on them a number of hours a day," mentioned examine lead writer Erica Kenney. "It's one thing to regulate and be involved about, as a result of it may very well be having an impact on their well being."

Children utilizing a display machine for that period of time will not be that unusual, Kenney, a analysis fellow with the Harvard T.H. Chan Faculty of Public Well being in Boston, and her co-author discovered.

One among each 5 U.S. youngsters spends greater than 5 hours a day on smartphones, tablets, computer systems and video video games, the researchers found. By comparability, solely eight p.c of children watch greater than 5 hours a day of TV.

"We all know youngsters are shifting their time away from TV and onto these different gadgets," Kenney mentioned.

Earlier research have linked extreme TV viewing with elevated consumption of sugary drinks, quick meals, sweets and salty snacks -- all resulting in the next danger of weight problems, the examine authors mentioned.

Kenney determined to see whether or not this danger additionally utilized to youngsters who've ditched TV for display gadgets.

The examine relied on knowledge drawn from the 2013 and 2015 waves of the Youth Threat Habits Surveillance System, a daily youth survey carried out by the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Researchers reviewed responses from nearly 25,000 teenagers in grades 9 by way of 12.

Continued

The outcomes relating to extra TV viewing agreed with earlier findings, the researchers mentioned. Teenagers who watched 5 or extra hours of TV each day had been practically thrice as prone to drink sugary drinks each day and 78 p.c extra prone to grow to be overweight, in contrast with youngsters who did not watch TV.

However these dangerous habits additionally appeared to switch over when youngsters used smartphones, tablets or computer systems. 5 or extra hours of display machine time each day was linked to a doubled danger of ingesting sugary drinks and getting too little train each day, and a 74 p.c elevated danger of poor sleep.

Children are likely to snack an excessive amount of whereas utilizing digital gadgets, defined Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian with Northwell Well being's Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y.

"If youngsters are enjoying video video games on the pc whereas they're consuming, they often do not register an finish to their starvation," Schiff mentioned. "Consuming can grow to be senseless relatively than aware, and so they might not notice they're really full."

As well as, a extra insidious course of tied to display use may very well be influencing their meals decisions, Kenney mentioned.

"Numerous the literature on TV and food plan and TV and weight problems danger actually suggests the important thing issue driving these associations is publicity to promoting for unhealthy issues that children nag their mother and father to get within the grocery store," she mentioned. "We do know lately a number of the cash in direction of advertising and marketing meals and drinks has shifted extra in direction of advertising and marketing on social media and video video games and issues like that."

These digital gadgets additionally share TV's means to attach youngsters to a sofa, Schiff mentioned.

"Years in the past, youngsters would play within the playground at recess or come residence after college and play of their yards or on the sidewalk," Schiff mentioned. "That play has been changed to an extent by video video games, Fb, YouTube and texting.

"It is not a shock that childhood weight problems is on the rise, since to some extent digital video games have changed real-time play and interplay, and bodily exercise has been relegated to fingers and thumbs," she continued.

Continued

Kenney recommends getting recommendation on methods to restrict display time in case your little one is utilizing smartphones or tablets greater than a pair hours a day.

"In the event that they're usually on these gadgets for lengthy durations of time, you perhaps wish to discuss together with your pediatrician about methods for easy methods to reduce a little bit bit," she mentioned.

The brand new examine was printed on-line Dec. 14 in The Journal of Pediatrics.

WebMD Information from HealthDay

Sources

SOURCES: Erica Kenney, Sc.D., M.P.H., analysis fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan Faculty of Public Well being, Boston; Stephanie Schiff, R.D.N., registered dietitian, Northwell Well being's Huntington Hospital, Huntington, N.Y.; Dec. 14, 2016, Journal of Pediatrics

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