After WHO obesity advisory to children, doctors put onus on parents

While the UN body advises against infants being exposed to any electronic screen activity, medical experts in the city talk about the increased prevalence of such unhealthy trend among children here and further advise on adhering to WHO recommendations to prevent obesity.

In the guidelines issued recently, WHO stated that children under five must spend less time sitting and watching screens, and rather get better quality sleep and have more time for active play if they are to grow up healthy. Medical experts say that increased physical activity ensures good quality of sleep and improves the overall physical and mental well-being of the child.

“Early exposure to digital devices is injurious to young children. With a greater number of nuclear families [now], children are easily exposed to television and digital devices at an early age. This has led to hyperactivity and autism-like behaviour in children in the recent years. We alert parents about such behaviour in infants, but parents should [only] restrict screen time for [their] children,” said Dr Shyamala J, consultant neonatologist and paediatrician, Apollo Hospitals. She adds that such exposure to devices could slow down an infant’s development and affect their communication skills, too.

According to WHO, failure to meet the stipulated physical activity recommendations is responsible for more than five million deaths across all age groups globally each year. Currently, over 23 percent of adults and 80 percent of adolescents are found to not be sufficiently physically active.

Mentioning that the level of physical activity in children has reduced because of increased exposure to digital devices, Dr Mohan Kumar, paediatrician at Institute of Child Health in the city adds, “In paediatrics, when they [children] look at digital devices, they see different colours and other live images that restricts them to a [particular] position. This leads to an increase in their sedentary time and leads to obesity in the long run. Obesity in paediatrics has increased over a decade as the exposure of digital devices for them has increased. Nowadays, parents hand over digital devices to children while they are being fed or dressed up so that the child remains distracted. However, such habits is unhealthy for infants.”

Overeating is said to be another associated factor leading to obesity from exposure to digital devices. Dr Prashant Kumar Dash, director of Medical Services at Medlife, says that overeating has played a significant role in increasing obesity among adults and children alike. “The arrival of smartphones and laptops has further worsened the situation making distracted eating and subsequent overconsumption of food a regular practice. Not chewing food and eating without engaging one’s five senses further affects our nutrition,” he added.