A study has found that children who use the phone or watch television at mealtime are much more likely to be overweight.
The decline in family meals is likely contributing to the childhood obesity crisis, as the “distraction” of screens prevents children from realizing they are full.
The researchers found that those who were allowed to use devices while eating were 15 percent more likely to be overweight than those who were not allowed.
A team from the University of Minho, Portugal, studied the eating habits of 735 children, ages six to ten, asking each child about the food they had consumed in the previous 24 hours and questioning parents about their rules about eating. use of screens at mealtime.
At the European Congress on Obesity in Venice yesterday, experts said their findings would probably be an underestimate because some parents may not have admitted to letting their children use screens at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
A study has found that children who use the phone or watch television at mealtime are much more likely to be overweight. stock photo
Lead researcher Dr Ana Duarte (pictured) said: ‘We are so busy now that we don’t seem to have time to all sit down together and eat as a family.’
Lead researcher Dr Ana Duarte said: “We are so busy now that we don’t seem to have time to all sit together and eat as a family.” When children are eating and watching something on television or on their mobile phone… they keep eating and eating because they are distracted by the screens.’
Tam Fry, co-founder of the Child Growth Foundation, said: “Family meals are quickly becoming a distant memory and obese children are acquiring diseases such as diabetes that once only affected adults.”
‘This is a shame. It’s clear that letting kids mindlessly graze while networking or collapsing in front of the TV is detrimental to their health. Tragically, this has become a way of life for many families in the UK.
“It’s been 20 years since the first plausible strategy to combat obesity was published, and yet we are further away than ever from solving the problem.”
Excessive screen time is also associated with health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and lack of sleep.
Around 91 per cent of children in the UK own a smartphone by the age of 11, according to communications regulator Ofcom.
An eight-year-old child typically spends two hours and 45 minutes online each day. And this increases to more than four hours a day when they start secondary school.