Children Who Use Smartphones During Meals Have Higher Risk for Obesity, Study Reveals

According to a new study, children who are allowed to engage in screen time during meals have a 15% higher likelihood of gaining excess weight.

Children's Screen Time During Meal Time

According to experts, allowing these children to watch videos, scroll on phones, and eat facing the TV was dangerous and could be promoting the growing epidemic of obesity. The researchers were able to discover that children who were granted permission to access these devices while they ate had a 15% higher likelihood of having excess pounds compared to those who were not allowed to use such electronic devices.

The screens' distractions meant that the children were more likely to continue eating without noticing that they had gotten full.

The study looked into how screen time during dinner, lunch, or breakfast affected children's weight. It covered 735 children, who were six to 10 years of age, from primary schools in more deprived neighborhoods.

The authors interviewed each child about the food they consumed within the last 24 hours. They also gave the parents a questionnaire that covered questions regarding whether the children were allowed to use screens during meals.

Children's Smartphone Usage During Meals Linked to Obesity

The researchers then gathered measurements to see if the child got obese. After accounting for factors such as socioeconomic status and age, the scientists discovered that those allowed to engage in screen time during dinner, lunch, and breakfast had a 15% higher chance of becoming overweight.

Dr. Ana Duarte, the study's lead researcher, explains that the findings reveal how the trend could be damaging the health of these kids. She explains that when children eat and watch something on a mobile phone or TV, they do not understand when they get full or when they must stop eating. They end up eating continuously due to getting distracted by the screens. This is dangerous for children and detrimental for society, as it leads children to become obese or overweight.

The findings also suggest that children who watched DV and scrolled on the units had a higher likelihood of consuming high-sugar and high-fat foods.

Tam Fry, the Child Growth Foundation's chairman, explains that family meals are becoming a memory that is distant and that fat children are developing conditions, such as diabetes, that only adults used to acquire.

The researchers presented their results and findings during the European Congress on Obesity held in Venice.

Rising rates of screen time have also been linked to other health problems, such as diabetes, elevated blood pressure, and poor sleep.

According to the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), children must have days free of TVs or a two-hour screen time limit. Ofcom, the communications regulator, also has research that shows that a typical eight-year-old may spend two hours and 45 minutes online each day. This figure could rise to over four hours when they start secondary school.

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