Do Computers and Facebook Make Us Fatter ?

May 13, 2009 By Mark

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Buffer
Tweet

3252520906_d052734538[1] As a usage of the Internet and things like computer games, and social networking sites like twitter, and facebook become more popular there is a growing concern that this may be partly fueling the obesity crisis that shows no sign of slowing down.

Susan Greenfield who is a director of the Royal institution, has pointed out that too much computer use could be infantilising, our brains when something tends to go wrong.

If a child does something wrong when it is younger for example it may fall over and hurt itself, it will learn not to do that mistake again.

If somebody plays a computer game and they make a mistake, there is a temptation to keep playing on in order to rectify this. The taking of risks and the pay off seem more appealing to us. What happens as a result of this is we can tend to eat more food without even realising it.

Susan who conducted the research has also found links to ADHD and autism, she says that too much computer use may be cutting our attention spans down, stifling our imagination, and lowering our empathy also.

The result of this is our brains can tend not to develop properly, and the old saying use it or lose it is very applicable to this particular to the way your brain may stop working. All these functions go on in a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.

When this part of the brain becomes damaged we tend to take more risks, and the more overweight you tend to be less active that part of the brain tends to be. To quote this source

“She said: ‘If you are stopping someone from doing something, that is not ideal.

‘If you are telling someone to not to do something, you must give them an alternative.

‘What we need is research to find out why it is so addictive.

‘Between the ages of 10 and 11, kids this this country spend 900 hours at school, just under 1,300 hours with their family and just under 2,000 hours in front of the screen.

‘Anyone who says that we shouldn’t worry and that I am scare-mongering should look at these figures.

Source http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1180934/Do-Facebook-flab-Computer-use-make-eat-warns-professor.html

Lose That Tyre Recommends

Diet or exercise? (Sportize.me)
Running or walking? (Sportize.me)

Buffer

Incoming search terms for the article:

are computers makign us fatter ,do i look fatter on facebook ,swimming blogs Mynetdiary ,too much computer

Comments Closed

Pingback: Weight Loss » Blog Archive » Do Computers and Facebook Make Us Fatter ?
http://amerrylife.com/ Mary @ A Merry Life

There has to be some sort of balance. Computers are great and the internet is wonderful, but not if they effect your health negatively. There needs to be a limit, especially with kids, on use of these things so they still spend time moving their bodies and keeping themselves active.
Mark

I agree Mary there has to be a finite line to how much we do
http://www.iohmagazine.com james

the internet is a fantastic tool (otherwise we wouldn’t be able read this blog!) andused correctly i think it can bring people together and educate. But, as with tv and other modern technology, used to the excess leading to lack of activity, computers can be harmful to health.
To answer the question..’Do Facebook and computers make us fatter?’ NO! Inactivity and poor diet does!
Mark

I agree James sometimes we lose track of what we are and aren’t doing. Thanks for dropping by.
http://www.theviewfromoutsidemytinywindow.blogspot.com Reggie Greene / The Logistician

Just checking some UK blogs today to see whether are there parallels to issues we are facing here in the United States. It appears that we are. Interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing.