Screen Time and the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

Approximately 20 percent of adolescents in the U.S. today are obese or overweight. With the number of obese and overweight younger children close behind, this epidemic has lasting implications for the future.

“The difficulty really comes in that once an adolescent is obese they more than likely will remain obese into and through their adulthood. There is no easy fix. It takes time, hard work and a drive to change habits that have been established for a long time,” said Garry Sigman, MD, a pediatrician and obesity expert at Loyola University Health System and associate professor of pediatrics at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

The physical implications of obesity are vast and dangerous. It is a major risk factor of numerous health problems, including cardiovascular disease, skin problems, orthopedic abnormalities, diabetes and cancer. Just as scary is the psychological and emotional impact obesity has on children and adolescents.

"Obesity in children can lead to a feeling of inadequacy and isolation. Even as young as 5 years old, children can be stigmatized by their peers. This can result in depression or suicidal ideation, especially among adolescent girls. Since food can be comforting, the child may turn to or may already have turned to food to feel better. This is a very circular problem and so when dealing with obesity the whole child – mind, body and soul — need to be addressed as well as their environment," said Sigman.

In working with children, Sigman has found that a child's environment and social-cultural factors play an even larger role than genetics in their development of the disease.

"Genetics do play some role in whether a child will become obese, but the dramatic numbers and steady increase that we have seen can't be contributed to genetics alone," said Sigman. "What's happening is our lifestyle is not only causing more people to become obese, but the BMIs of a larger part of the population are higher. So, even those who are not genetically prone to the disease are becoming obese."

Some non-genetic behavioral risk factors for children include:
• Mother who is obese or diabetic
• Mother who smokes
• Bottle feeding on a schedule vs. breast feeding on demand
• Too much screen and sedentary time
• Not enough sleep
• Portion size of food
• Unhealthy snacking including where, when and what a child eats
• Not getting enough physical activity
• Not eating enough healthy foods, including fruits and vegetables

Many of these factors are linked to a common feature of modern youth lifestyle – too much screen time. According Sigman, there is a direct correlation between time spent in front of a screen and number of patients who are obese.

"Unsupervised TV watching is terrible for kids. It has a hypnotic effect that causes us to move less and burn fewer calories. Eating in front of the TV is made worse by ads for food that makes people of all ages have the desire to eat more, even if not hungry," said Sigman.