Tech Solutions for Child Obesity Essay

Introduction

Obesity is a condition resulting in excessive body fat. Patients suffering from obesity usually experience premature mortality since obesity also results in other medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and psychological disorders (Hawley et al., 2020). According to Kansra (2021), childhood obesity has been a significant issue in Mexico, with 36.5% of children between 5 and 11 years being obese. Higher-income countries such as the United States and Mexico have a higher obesity rate than lower-income countries (Popkin et al., 2020). Mexico, an upper-middle-income country, has an obesity rate of 28.9% compared to a low-income country like Burundi, which has an obesity rate of 5.4% (Popkin et al., 2020). High obesity in Mexico is attributed to the economic and cultural challenges that have exposed the young generation to an obesogenic environment. Detrimental lifestyle changes in Mexico, such as an unhealthy diet, are a significant factor causing high obesity and mortality rates in the country (Popkin et al., 2020).

Obesity in low-income countries is more prevalent among the rich; in comparison, obesity in high-income countries is higher among the poor (Templin et al., 2019). A study by McEniry et al. (2019) found high obesity prevalence in upper-middle-income countries like Mexico compared to low-income countries. Children from affluent families often spend time in video games (Zbinden et al., 2020). Thus, they fail to engage in physical activities that help break fats and are more prone to obesity. The introduction of processed foods has seen a shift in diet from traditional grain and vegetable produce to processed foods high in sugar and fats. The social determinants influencing childhood obesity include lack of exercise infrastructure, low physical activity, and eating patterns. Whereas poor people in Mexico who lack gym resources for exercise are more prone to obesity, wealthy people who typically fail to engage in physical activities such as farming are more likely to get obese. Despite Mexico being an upper-middle-income country, 44% of its population is poor, and this population is the most affected by obesity (Kansra, 2021).

Project’s Objectives

This project will conduct detailed research on the following objectives;

1. To investigate new technologies developed to prevent child obesity by engaging them in more physical activities
2. To investigate the effectiveness of the technological-based innovations developed to prevent child obesity

Technological Innovations to Prevent Child Obesity

In this digital age, most children engage their free time on mobile phones and tablets, watching their favorite programs or using their favorite software. This habit limits their engagement in physical exercises that will help reduce their body fats and ultimately minimize their chances of being obese. Despite the development of numerous parental apps that allow parents to limit the time their children spend on mobile devices, it is not guaranteed that the children will leave the devices and go outside to play. Other kids may go outside to play; however, some may switch to playing video games or doing homework. Therefore, these new technologies aimed at limiting the children’s screen time should also engage them in physical activities, after which the children could access their favorite mobile apps.

The ACTIVE Fitness App

The ACTIVE Fitness app motivates children to exercise by rewarding them with screen time on their preferred mobile application after reaching the target physical activity of the day (Aaron, 2020). The app allows guardians to set physical activity goals. After the child has achieved the goals, the app designates to them a limited amount of time with third-party software. The parent can set minor goals like the number of steps the child is expected to complete before unlocking minutes to use their favorite social media platforms. For instance, the parent may set the app to reward the child with 10 minutes to use the preferred software after they have completed 1500 steps. This reward motivates the child to complete more steps as it will reward them with more minutes. After downloading the app from the app store, the guardian follows detailed tutorials to install the app on the child’s mobile gadget. The app is supported by both the Android and IOS operating systems. The parent account used to track the physical activity is set on the parent’s phone. Upon completing the setup of both the child’s and parent’s accounts, the parent can begin by setting goals like walking steps or distance covered, which the child is expected to complete before earning screen time on their phones. Children who do more physical activity will earn more screen time, while the lazy will not get screen time to use their favorite apps. Suppose the child does not use all their designated time; the remaining time can be carried forward to the next day. However, this can drive the children to be active only for certain periods to earn extra points. The app allows parents to set schedules in which the children can access the apps regardless of how active they are. The “Free Mode” button allows the parents to allow their children access to the app at any time. It is important to note that the app is free and has no ads. The app must be installed on a device with either Google Fit or Apple Health to track the child’s activities. Just like other technological-based interventions, the app is not without its pros and cons.

Pros of the ACTIVE Fitness App

The app shifts the responsibility of determining their screen time to the child. This shift avoids conflicts typically when the parent solely dictates when the child will use their phones. The child will take the responsibility of working harder in case they lack enough screen time. It also equips the child with essential time management skills since they must plan when to be active and when to use their phones. Generally, the app is good at helping kids develop healthy physical fitness habits.

Cons of the ACTIVE Fitness App

One of the setbacks in the app is its complicated installation procedures on the child’s phone. Furthermore, the apps allow control only over third-party apps in IOS. The child will continue accessing the factory-installed apps on Apple devices.

Andie Nugent Invention: The Kazi

Inspired by Swahili, the word “Kazi” meaning active, Andie Nugent, a 9-year-old grade 3 child, designed a wrist gadget called “The Kazi” to fight child obesity (Castle, 2017). The Kazi allows children to earn screen time by engaging them in physical activities. After exercising for a considerable time, the Kazi displays a code the kids will enter into their media devices to unlock their favorite programs or software. The cardio component in The Kazi tracks the child’s heart rate rather than physical movement, thereby preventing cheating, such as swinging arms while seated. The Kazi also allows the setup of more than one account. This provision is helpful in cases with more than one kid in the family. The Kazi also allows for lowering the levels of cardio activity suppose the child cannot engage in regular activities due to illness.

Conclusion

Technological innovations like The ACTIVE Fitness App and The Kazi help kids develop a sense of responsibility since they earn their screen time by working harder in physical activities. This paper strongly recommends these inventions to parents who wish to instill responsibility, good physical fitness habits, and time management skills in their children.

References

Aaron. (2020b). The ACTIVATE fitness app rewards kids with screen time based on fitness goals. Tech for Daddy. Web.

Castle, J. (2017). A 9-year-old girl invented a wearable to fight childhood obesity. Topcoder. Web.

Kansra, A. R., Lakkunarajah, S., & Jay, M. S. (2021). Childhood and adolescent obesity: A review. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8, 581461.

McEniry, M., Samper-Ternent, R., Flórez, C. E., Pardo, R., & Cano-Gutierrez, C. (2019). Patterns of SES health disparities among older adults in three upper middle two high-income countries. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(6), e25-e37.

Popkin, B. M., Du, S., Green, W. D., Beck, M. A., Algaith, T., Herbst, C. H.,… & Shekar, M. (2020). Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships. Obesity Reviews, 21(11), e13128.

Templin, T., Cravo Oliveira Hashiguchi, T., Thomson, B., Dieleman, J., & Bendavid, E. (2019). The overweight and obesity transition from the wealthy to the poor in low- and middle-income countries: A survey of household data from 103 countries. PLOS Medicine, 16(11), e1002968. Web.

Zbinden‐Foncea, H., Francaux, M., Deldicque, L., & Hawley, J. A. (2020). Does high cardiorespiratory fitness confer some protection against proinflammatory responses after infection by SARS‐CoV‐2? Obesity, 28(8), 1378-1381.