Mobile technology influence

How might mobile technology influence childhood obesity?

Thomas R Schindler II
EDT624 Fall 10/26/2014
Saginaw Valley State University

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Literature Review
Since the growth of mobile technology there has been a growing concern about how this
growth will correlate with childhood obesity. Everyone can agree that children are the future, and
the lifestyle choices that they make today can greatly affect the future for everyone. Mobile
technology has changed rapidly over recent years. More and more children have been introduced
to this technology at earlier and earlier ages. This early introduction has given children a sense of
reliance on technology. This reliance has led to important factors that must be considered in
regards to childrens health. Important factors to consider when looking at mobile technology
effects on childhood obesity include types of video games, obesity, diabetes, body mass index
(BMI), and screen time. The following review will highlight important information about mobile
technology influences on childhood obesity.
Video games
Active video games are video games that allow children to physically interact with the
content on the screen (using leg, arm, or whole-body movement) in a number of different
activities such as dancing, football, boxing, and window washing (Maddison, Mhurchu, Jull,
Prapavessis, Foley, & Jiang, Y. 2012,p.1). Active video games have dramatically changed the
way children play video games. Some research has found that playing active video games may
be an effective way to increase childrens overall levels of physical activity (Ni Mhurchu,
Maddison, Jiang, Jull, Prapavessis, & Rodgers, 2008). Since most children love to play video
games why not give them a way to improve their health as well? Research has also found that
playing active video games for an average of 35 minutes a day can double to quadruple the
energy expenditure of children compared to the sedentary version of the video games

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(Lanningham-Foster, Jensen, Foster, Redmond, Walker, Heinz, & Levine, 2008, p.822;
Lanningham-Foster, Foster, McCrady, Jensen, Mitre, & Levine, 2009,p.e1834; Maddison,
Foley, Mhurchu, Jiang, Jull, Prapavessis, &Rodgers, 2011, p.158). Traditional sedentary video
game research has found that sedentary video games can have some of the same effects as sitting
and watching an hour of television, where one hour of sitting can equal 16% of the total daily
caloric intake (Mellecker, & Mcmanus, 2008,p.889). While active video games have been
found to be more beneficial than their sedentary counterpart, they have only been found to
achieve light to moderate physical activity (Biddiss, & Irwin, 2010, p.664). Using active
videogames can be a great way to increase physical activity. These active video games have been
great tools in helping obese children get exercise.
Obesity
It is becoming obvious that childhood obesity is becoming a major problem worldwide.
Research done in 2004 in Switzerland helped to identify factors that have been associated with
obesity among U.S. children including: low physical activity, television watching, lower
socioeconomic status, skipping breakfast, unstructured meals, and soda drinking (Stettler, Signer,
& Suter. 2004, p.896). Their research also suggests that children may be at a higher risk for
obesity if their father smokes or mother works outside the home (Stettler, Signer, & Suter. 2004,
p.898). In 1999 research suggested that American children spend more time watching TV and
playing video games than they do anything else other than sleeping (Robinson, T. 1999, p.1561).
There is a connection between sleep and obesity as well; research found that obese children sleep
fewer than the recommended nine hours per night (Bener, Al-Mahdi, Ali, Al-Nufal, Vachhani, &
Tewfik, 2011, p.62). A study in 2004 suggested that girls that were overweight or obese were
more likely to turn to electronic media than boys due to the fact they are more socially isolated

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(Vandewater, Shim, & Caplovitz, 2004, p.81). Because girls are more self-conscious about their
weight than boys it is easy to see how they can turn to electronic media to escape feelings of
being judged based on their weight. In Canada in 1997 the government spent 1.8 billion dollars
in direct medical costs from obesity (Tremblay, & Willms, J. (2003). That number has surely
gone up over recent years. Schools have also been taken into account when battling obesity. In
2006 research was released that showed that the foods in school vending machines and sold in
cafeterias `a la carte largely consisted of cookies, cakes, pastries, crackers, and salty snacks
(Anderson, & Butcher, 2006, p.34). Selling of pop in school vending machines was also listed as
a major contributing factor linked to childhood obesity (Anderson, & Butcher, 2006, p.34). There
are a number of risk factors that go along with childhood obesity including: hypertension,
chronic inflammation, increased blood clotting tendency, dyslipidemia, endothelial dysfunction,
and hyperinsulinaemia (Ebbeling, Pawlak, & Ludwig, 2002, p.473).
Diabetes
The prevalence of obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes has increased markedly
(Pollak, Gay, Byrne, Wagner, Reteln, & Humphreys, 2010). Increasing knowledge about diet
and exercise at early ages are key steps that need to be taken to help battle this increase in
diabetes (Dunton, Liao, Intille, Spruijt-Metz, Pentz, 2011). With there being other factors to
consider with diabetes such as heredity and life-style factors, obesity is not the only cause of
diabetes (Ebbeling, Pawlak, & Ludwig, 2002, p.473). Type 2 diabetes was at one point
unrecognized in adolescents, but now makes up half of all of the new diagnoses of diabetes in
certain population types (Ebbeling, Pawlak, & Ludwig, 2002, p.473). Some of the risk factors
that go along with diabetes include: heart disease, limb amputation, stroke, kidney failure, and
blindness (Ebbeling, Pawlak, & Ludwig, 2002, p.473). It is very sad that many children, because

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they are born into a certain type of lifestyle, have such a high chance of developing diabetes in
their lifetime.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A childs BMI is found by taking their weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square
of their height in meters (Mendoza, J., Zimmerman, F., & Christakis, D. 2007). Comparing BMI
of participants in studies is a commonly used practice for determine results of a study. Due to the
fact that a childs BMI does change based on age, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a
growth chart that allows for researchers to find the BMI of any age subject in a study (Nemet,
Barkan, Epstein, Friedlan, Kowe, & Eliakim, 2004). A child is considered obese when those at
the >85th percentile of age and the gender-specific norms of BMI has reached 32% (Graf, Pratt,
Hester, & Short, 2008). Due to researchers checking the BMI of subjects before the study starts
and then again at the end of the study they are able to validate their research. One study found by
looking at BMI of subjects that watched four or more hours of TV a day that this group had the
highest BMI out of any of the other group (Andersen, Crespo, Bartlett, Cheskin, and Pratt, 1998,
p.941). There are apps available that track a childs BMI and will help with weight loss.
Screen Time
Screen time is identified by the amount of time children watch TV or play video games
(Laurson, Eisenmann, Welk, Wickel, Gentile, Walsh, 2008, p.209). This time can also include
time spent watching TV on mobile devices or playing mobile video games. Researchers have
found that boys and girls not meeting the recommended amount of physical activity time and
screen time were 3 to 4 times as likely to be overweight (Laurson, Eisenmann, Welk, Wickel,
Gentile, Walsh, 2008, p.211). Large amounts of screen time can affect the metabolic rate of

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children as well; research has found that children that watch an excessive amount of TV are more
likely to be obese because watching TV lowers their resting energy expenditures when compared
to doing nothing at all (Klesges, Shelton, & Klesges, 1993). Playing video games also affects the
metabolic rate of children but not to the same extent as watching TV does. It is however not
recommended that video game screen time take the place of physical activity (Wang, 2006,
p.411). This lower energy expenditure leads to children leading sedentary life styles. Some
factors include using buses to go to school, watching TV 3 to 4.5 hours a day, and not having
physical educational class in school (Rey-Lpez, Vicente-Rodrguez, Biosca, & Moreno, 2007,
p.245). In contradiction to most research, one research group drew a conclusion that there is only
a small link between TV watching/video game playing and body fatness (Marshall, Biddle,
Gorely, Cameron, & Murdey, 2004, p1244). They believe that it is the other behaviors that
accompany TV watching/video game playing such as eating fatty snacks (Marshall, Biddle,
Gorely, Cameron, & Murdey, 2004, p1244). Research found that children who are approaching
adolescence, non-Hispanic black, and girls are most likely to have high levels of screen time and
low levels of active play (Anderson, Economos, & Must 2008).
Conclusion
Obviously there is a large amount of research on how mobile technology may influence
childhood obesity, but much more is still needed in this area. There were a large number of
articles for and against the use of mobile technology. This is a global crisis that everyone needs
to be a part of. This is not just something that is localized to the United States; it is all parts of
the world and affects all types of people. New technology is coming out every day and the way
that todays children use it is going to be determined by how society influences them to use it.
That can be to better their lives with physical activity or to lead sedentary life styles. More

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research must be done to find the best ways for the children of the world to use this new
technology to the fullest so that maybe one day obesity and diabetes may be things of the past.
Apps like MyFitnessPal that monitor and record diet and exercise are great tools children. The
children of today are the future of tomorrow.

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