According to scientists, playing computer games makes teenagers feel hungry and then it will be more likely to become obese. Computer games stimulate youngsters’ appetites encouraging them to raid the fridge and cupboards for some snacks.
Experts also believe that this is the reason why children who spend much time on games consoles are often obese. It's not just because children don’t get exercise.
Researchers realized that teenage boys often consumed an extra 80 calories after playing computer games for an hour compared to teenagers who did not play games. Researchers have already studied a group of 17-year-old boys who rested for one hour and a group of 17-year-old boys who played computer games for another hour the following day. After study, they collected blood samples every 10 minutes during each hour. The calories they were burning off are also measured by telling them to breath into a machine which can measures oxygen level as well as carbon dioxide levels. When the time of rest and hour of playing computer games was up, the researchers offered teenagers a plate of spaghetti. According to the Canadian and Danish researchers, the boys burnt off just 21 extra calories during the time they were playing computer games compared to the time of resting. However, they needed an extra 80 calories afterwards – nearly sixty more than they would have burnt off.
This means that if teenagers played computer games for 3 hours per day they would eat 180 more calories than the number they needed, and overtime they would certainly put on their weight.
Computer games has been named as the single biggest cause of childhood obesity by the World Health Organization. Last year, research claimed that fat kids were 20 per cent more likely to spend two hours at least on the games a day.
Computer games make children get less exercise and encourage them eat more. As a consequence, the weight will be piled on. It is necessary for children to go out and get their knees dirty. Some active games consoles like the Wii, which involves moving around might help. The increased development of these types of games should be encouraged because you have to be active to deal with them.
The latest figures found is that a third of all 11-year olds are overweight or obese by the time they have left primary school.
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