HEALTH B M4

2

Module 1 2

Introduction

Evidence shows a strong relationship between screen time and pediatric obesity. This focuses on the effects of spending too much time watching Tv and other devices among children. The target audience under this discussion involved in this relationship includes those between 2 to 19 years of age. Among the effects that have been established include pediatric obesity. Pediatric obesity, as used in this context, refers to a situation where the child's body mass index concerning age exceeds 95 percent. Pediatric obesity is usually used when the children exceed 'overweight' characterized by a BMI between 85-95 percent. Higher than this level is pediatric obesity (Nagata et al, 2021).

Literature review

Numerous observational investigations track down connections between screen media openness or screen viewing and expanded dangers of excessive weight gain interpreted as overweight or pediatric obesity. Current proof verified through research studies shows that contributes significantly to increased weight. This is done on children who spend much time on screen either on their social media platforms or when operating a computer, laptop, or smartphone. Based on research conducted involving 3,734 children who were neither obese nor overweight at the start of the study, new evidence rose that every extra hour of screen viewing had an increased chance of 16 percent becoming obese. This was verified through a follow-up which also confirmed that missed hours of sleep increased the likelihood of pediatric obesity (Nagata et al, 2021).

Importance

There is a need to establish the effect of screen time on pediatric obesity. With the advancement in technology, there has been an increased prevalence in the rate at which children spend time watching Tv or on their smartphones, tablets, and computers. This is even worse with the increased rate at which students attend virtual classes rather than physical classes. It increases the average screen time spent by a child or a student in a day. Therefore, topics related to screening time and health issues that may arise with screen time are getting more sensitive as the possibility of the issue is likely to cause more harm to the children and students in general. With a health issue such as obesity and the associated health issues and effects, parents and the overall society must consider all mitigation strategies that are necessary in controlling such conditions. This includes assessing whether there are alternatives to reduce the screen time to save children from the adverse effects of pediatric obesity (Durbin, 2018).

Consequences

Screen time may have different consequences on the child depending on the number of hours or the average time spent by the child on the screen. When the child spends so much time on the screen, there are adverse effects on the child's health through developing conditions such as pediatric obesity. Other consequences include physical strain on the body and eyes, delayed learning in children, and increased susceptibility to chronic conditions (Ten et al, 2021).

Reference

Durbin, J. (2018). Pediatric Obesity in Primary Practice: A Review of the Literature. Pediatric Nursing, 44(4).

Nagata, J. M., Iyer, P., Chu, J., Baker, F. C., Gabriel, K. P., Garber, A. K., ... & Ganson, K. T. (2021). Contemporary screen time usage among children 9–10‐years‐old is associated with higher body mass index percentile at 1‐year follow‐up: A prospective cohort study. Pediatric Obesity, 16(12), e12827.

Ten Velde, G., Lubrecht, J., Arayess, L., van Loo, C., Hesselink, M., Reijnders, D., & Vreugdenhil, A. (2021). Physical activity behavior and screen time in Dutch children during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Pre‐, during‐and post‐school closures. Pediatric Obesity, 16(9), e12779.