Humans are becoming heavily dependent on technology through the years

With new inventions coming out what seems like every week things that used to be everyday activities are now taking place behind a screen digitally. For example, big companies like iPhone and android make small activities such as face to face communication seem rare and much harder than they have to be. Instead of going outdoors and playing soccer, one can play it on their I phone or technology device. Texting has also replaced normal every day conversation.

Technology has been seen as a privilege that provides much convenience, but it has its many draw backs too.

With the fluid increase in technology, it has taken everyone out of the real world and has provided a lifestyle of laziness. Getting together with friends or coworkers to play games or face to face conversation has become a thing of the past and for newer generations its becoming obsolete. Instead you can talk to another person “face to face” over facetime. As we become more technologically advanced the health of the general population decreases heavily.

This seems so unlikely because as technology grows, so does the technology we use for medicine.

As a country, we have made huge strides in the technology we use to detect and help fight cancer, and this is mostly due to new advances in the technology world. Still, the obesity rates have grown because people have become so dependent on the convenience of technology they take the old fashion things like playing outside for granted. Another example of this is the steady increase of popularity for the online ordering of food.

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Big companies like Uber eats and Postmates have made it big because of people’s laziness to get up and drive to a food store. Sure, it is more convenient, but this has proved that people will pay almost twice as much to have their food delivered to them, instead of them going to get their own food. This is just one of the many examples of how the overall healthiness of America decreasing.

Obesity is becoming one of the major healthcare issues around the world, and it is has become a main issue throughout America. According the world health organization in 2008, 1.5 billion adults were overweight; 200 million men and 300 million women aged over 20 years were obese worldwide. This is concerning considering that just a few years before, in 2004, there were nearly 5% less people considered obese.

The growing problem

Obesity in the world is on the rise and technology is definitely part of the blame. Things like exercise have become a difficulty, getting in the way of people and their precious technology. Although lots of people do exercise, the certainly would not do it without some sort of technology being carried on them. Most runners go out and run listening to iPods and music. Entertainment is peoples main concern. For most life would be unlivable without it. Obesity is known as one of the lifestyle inducing diseases, so it should be concluded that it is not the modern technology leading to increased incidence of obesity, but it is the improper use of technology like video gaming, TV, and computers which is leading to obesity. If the technologies are used wisely it should not lead to obesity. The advancement of technology is inevitable.

It will always grow and change, and continue to make life “easier” for people. It is true that, the growing of multiple technologies are part of our recent development and our everyday life style. Technology can bring many advantages like quicker communication, health care and treatment options that are constantly changing and growing, advancements in the education system, and advancements in agricultural tools. The whole education system has changed and now professors can quickly catch cheating and other things along those lines. The use of new tools like PowerPoint, excel, and other programs make education so much easier, accessible, and quicker. “Today, massive amounts of information (books, audio, images, videos) are available at one’s fingertips through the Internet, and opportunities for formal learning are available online worldwide through the Khan Academy, MOOCs, podcasts, traditional online degree programs, and more.” (Purdue University, How has technology changed Education, 2017). Now people can get degrees and go to school online, which at one point was unthinkable.

If the technology is used properly, it is the one of the most useful things in this modern world. With the exception of the small number of people who do exercise to combat obesity, technology can be very devastating to one’s health. Simple activities such as walking to the television to change a channel has been replaced by a remote control. There is no other use for a remote other than convenience. Not to mention the research that has been done about phones, iPods, etc. leading to cancer or the blue light that is damaging to one’s eyes. Inventions such as the remote encourage laziness and in turn, obesity.

Growing like a forest

Just like a tree starts from a seed, technology is to obesity. It is creating and developing our minds, bodies, and habits that overtime lead to obesity. It is creating a lazy pattern for us in almost every aspect of life. Just like the seed grows and produces the tree, technology is grooming us for our unproductive lifestyle; growing a new generation into patterns of laziness. Just like the tree it starts out small, and then sprouts into something way bigger, and for it to be able to live it needs to remain healthy. In order to have a healthy country we need a healthy population. The new generation is the future, and it is important to help them promote a healthy lifestyle. If we continue this lazy pattern that technology aids, our generation will not will be healthy.

Are there positives?

An abundance of research shows that the more video games a child plays, the higher risk they are apt to become obese. An assessment of 712 children was done to see how much tv/ video games aid in obesity. Children completed a self-administered test to assess time spent doing physical activity, television viewing, and diet. Height, weight and triceps skinfolds were also measured. The outcome was obesity, and the variables were hours of tv, video game usage, and physically usage. “Odds ratios of obesity were 12% higher for each hour of television program viewing per day, and 10% lower for each hour of moderate/vigorous physical activity per day” (Association of obesity with physical activity, television programs and other forms of video viewing among children, B Hernández & S Parra-Cabrera, 2014). A more recent analysis that summarized the findings of this study and seven similar studies found that for every two hours spent watching TV, the risk of developing diabetes, developing heart disease, and early death increased by 20, 15, and 13 percent, respectively. This is insane considering most movies are about 2 hours long, so for every movie a person watches, they can be developing a disease.

Overall the more that people use technology and do not partake in a physical activity, the more obese they become. Just like mentioned before, if technology is used the wrong way, then our country will continue to experience obesity rates growing. Although people use technology for the wrong thing, there is also many apps and programs that aid in a healthy lifestyle. Per CNBC, some applications to help keep you fit and healthy are: Couch to 5K, Foodscape, MySugr, HealthTap, Stress and Anxiety Companion, MoodPrism, and MyFitnessPal Calorie Counter. These apps help you either exercise, count calories and give you healthy food options, or work on your mental health. Through these examples we can see that technology can be used as a positive influence for overall health. Also with an upraise in the smart watch industry people have access too new technology to help track things like sleep, heartrate, calories, and movement. These can all be beneficial to one’s health and aid in a healthier lifestyle through technology.

To Conclude

The relationship between technology inactivity, and growing obesity is evident. However, having technology as a part of our lives is now virtually unavoidable. So many things depend on technology now including school, medicine, food etc. So, instead of blaming the technology it is the balance that needs to be addressed. No one person can deny that we have been slowly moving away from the more active lifestyle. The new technology has its advantages and disadvantages but it is comforting to know that new technologies do have the potential to help prevent health issues and obesity. Technologies realize that they are aiding in people’s bad habits, and many people have taken a step in the right direction to try and help people get on the right track to a healthy lifestyle. Once people find the balance on how and when to use the technology the positive impact could finally outweigh the bad. It is not that if people use the technology they will become obese, it is IF the people use technology the wrong way and overuse it, then this could aid to an unhealthy lifestyle for them.