Causal Argument video games make children obesity - Essay Example

All the above causes have been substantively evaluated and proven to have a direct impact on obesity; however, debates have recently ensued, concerning the relationship between video games and obesity. According to a study by WHO, video games are the leading cause of obesity in young children and teenagers; the research further shows that a third of children in different parts of the world are overweight (Ingham). Video games make children fat, given that screen time takes away time for healthy lifestyle habits such as dieting and vigorous games.

This paper will examine the premise that video games make children fat, by highlighting a number of facts in the relationship between obesity and video games. One way in which video games cause obesity in children is that video games replace active play and exercise, thus making the children physically unfit. It is advertent knowledge that obesity is high in those people who do not exercise regularly to flush out excess calories in their bodies (“Obesity’). This is so because vigorous physical exercises require a lot of energy; the body can only get by burning the excess fats stored in the body as an alternative source of energy.

Physical activity also tends to reduce the levels of hunger in obese individuals, besides enhancing their bodies’ ability to metabolize fats. . Many studies have recently shown that, on average, children absorb up to 163 more calories when playing video games than they would when not playing (“Video games make kids fat – study”). This trend has been linked to the emotional stress that video games have on children, creating the need for a reward; unfortunately, children tend to eat mainly sweet and fatty foods thus further aggravating the risk for obesity.

Dietary strategies are not an option for children who are involved in video games because, being highly addictive, the video games make children insensitive to nutrition. The glee of fatty, sugary foods is every child’s ultimate reward for the extreme mental and emotional stress that accompanies playing video games. Coupled with a lack of vigorous physical exercise, excess calories in children are a complete recipe for obesity. Obesity also results from psychological factors such as negative emotions of boredom, anger or sadness (“Obesity”); all these emotions are common in children during video games.

Studies have shown that many overweight people usually have emotional or psychological problems, which affect their eating habits accordingly. When playing video games, children are prone to extreme emotional stress or psychological problems, which emanate from their high involvement in the video games. For instance, a simple act of losing a fight in a video game may provoke feelings of anger or sadness in children, thus causing emotional instability. In the event of such emotional or psychological instability, children often tend to act out in defiance response to the feelings of loss, anger or sadness.

In most cases, children will respond to negative feelings of anger and frustration by eating more