Video Games and Obesity
October 22, 2007
Video Games and Obesity
In just two decades, the prevalence of obesity doubled for U.S. children ages 6 to 11, and tripled for American teenagers (Childhood Obesity). Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat causing a person to become overweight. It is a serious and growing health problem, especially for kids. One major factor to the problem of children becoming obese is, video games. Video games have advanced dramatically over the years. From hitting a ball back and forth in the game “Pong,” and eating little dots in the game “Pac Man,” to first person shooters, and sport simulation games that look like you’re watching a game on TV. Even within the past six years, video games have advanced a lot. Games are now playable online against anyone around the world. Because of this, video games are becoming more and more popular, and kids are spending lots of time in front of the television, playing video games. This is causing kids to gain a lot of weight, and becoming obese. Genetics, high intake of calories, and lack of exercise, all contribute to childhood obesity as well. Children, whose parents are overweight, have a greater chance of becoming overweight then a child who has average sized parents. The rise of fast foods that are extremely high in fat, do not help either. Fast foods are a big part of American culture, and many people, especially kids, eat lots of fast food. Sedentary activities however, do not burn off any calories. These activities are the biggest reason why kids are becoming obese. William Higinbotham created the first video game ever in 1958. His game, called "Tennis for Two," was created and played on a Brookhaven National Laboratory oscilloscope. In 1962, Steve Russell invented “Space War”. “Space War,” was the first game intended for computer use. Russell used a MIT PDP-1 mainframe computer to design his game (Bellis). In 1967, Ralph Baer wrote the first video game played on a
Video Games and Obesity
In just two decades, the prevalence of obesity doubled for U.S. children ages 6 to 11, and tripled for American teenagers (Childhood Obesity). Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat causing a person to become overweight. It is a serious and growing health problem, especially for kids. One major factor to the problem of children becoming obese is, video games. Video games have advanced dramatically over the years. From hitting a ball back and forth in the game “Pong,” and eating little dots in the game “Pac Man,” to first person shooters, and sport simulation games that look like you’re watching a game on TV. Even within the past six years, video games have advanced a lot. Games are now playable online against anyone around the world. Because of this, video games are becoming more and more popular, and kids are spending lots of time in front of the television, playing video games. This is causing kids to gain a lot of weight, and becoming obese. Genetics, high intake of calories, and lack of exercise, all contribute to childhood obesity as well. Children, whose parents are overweight, have a greater chance of becoming overweight then a child who has average sized parents. The rise of fast foods that are extremely high in fat, do not help either. Fast foods are a big part of American culture, and many people, especially kids, eat lots of fast food. Sedentary activities however, do not burn off any calories. These activities are the biggest reason why kids are becoming obese. William Higinbotham created the first video game ever in 1958. His game, called "Tennis for Two," was created and played on a Brookhaven National Laboratory oscilloscope. In 1962, Steve Russell invented “Space War”. “Space War,” was the first game intended for computer use. Russell used a MIT PDP-1 mainframe computer to design his game (Bellis). In 1967, Ralph Baer wrote the first video game played on a
Cited: Bellis, Mary. "Computer and Video Game History." About. 3 Nov 2007 . "Child Obesity." CBS News. March 24, 2004. 24 Oct 2007 . "Childhood Obesity." kid source. 28 Oct 2007 . "Childhood Obesity." mayo clinic. March 31, 2006. 28 Oct 2007 . Kuittinen, Petri. "History of Video Games." 23 Oct 2007 . Morris, Chris. "This is Science?" CNNmoney. July 6, 2004. 23 Oct 2007 "Study Links Childhood Obesity to Video Games." March 18, 2004. 28 Oct 2007 . Warner, Jennifer. "Children’s Health." webmd. June 2, 2004. 23 Oct 2007 .