Bob finished his online classes; picked up the remote and lied down on
the bed. His mother, Martha came in the room with his lunch. He took sandwiches
and started gulping it down with eyes fixed on his favourite program on the
television.
Martha tried to make him sleep. He feigned to sleep for some time but as
she went out, he switched on the television again to watch his favourite show.
It was a daily routine for him and was not limited to any one programme. He
just wanted to do nothing except lying down all the time with T.V. Remote in
his hand and eyes glued to the television. He was showing poor academic
performance and his body weight had gone up drastically. Everybody tried to
reason out with him but to no avail.
It had its drastic effect. Bob appeared in the examination but when the
results came, nobody was surprised to see that he had failed in four subjects.
Lately, he had started experiencing eye problems, headaches, digestion problems
and loss of stamina. His parents took him to a doctor who got to know about his
affliction and told his father that many kids, like him suffer with this
problematic habit. He strictly instructed Bob not to watch Television for more
than one hour. Bob had learnt his lesson. He decided to go by the
advice.
This story is not
very uncommon today. Our children are becoming ‘couch potatoes’ or lazy ones.
What is a ‘Couch Potato’?
According to https://www.woodwardenglish.com/ it is the name given to a person who
spends too much time watching Television with negligible physical exercise.
What are the harms of being a ‘Couch Potato’?
According to http://www.collegenews.com/ it is really very harmful for a person
to become lazy. It is a fact that our organs function to the best of their
capacity only when used properly. For example, if we stop using even one finger
for a few days, it will not be fully functional when we want it. Therefore, the
following damages may set into our body, sooner or later.
Eye Problems- Regular watching the screen may
impair the eyes badly. It is a common sight to see the little children wearing
thick glasses.
Less Oxygen intake- Body’s intake of fresh Oxygen
increases in case of the physical activity. However, the couch potatoes hardly
move out to take in more oxygen which is so very important for normal
functioning of lungs and other internal organs.
Diabetes- Since sugar is not fully burnt in the
body, insulin levels may rise and Diabetes is the natural outcome.
Hypertension- Sitting for a long period may cause
hypertension and building of bad Cholesterol or LDL and in worst circumstances,
may even lead to the cardiac problems, details of which follow.
Cardiac problems- Heart is used for pumping the blood. Flow
of blood becomes slow in a person taking up a sedentary lifestyle. Fats are not
burnt fully and the fatty acids may clog the heart. Cardiovascular diseases are the natural outcome.
Cancer- Prolonged sitting may even lead to
cancer of various internal organs.
Reduction in the Hormonal Activity- Active brain
triggers hormonal flow. If the person is sitting idle, his or her brain is least
active and affects this function leading to serious complications. It may cause
negative feelings like anxiety, boredom, depression, frustration etc.
Body aches- Muscles may stiffen because of the
very limited movement, and result into pains and aches.
Problems in the feet- Sitting for a long duration slows
down the blood circulation that may cause numbness. The person may even find
difficulty to stand up and walk after being inactive for a long duration.
Back Problems- Lying down for a long period may
cause serious spine problems.
What about the children?
Well, the children
are no exceptions. They may not face such drastic effects because of being in
the growing stages. However, Juvenile Diabetes, cardiac problems, obesity, even
hypertension are affecting the children are getting common.
It is the sad fact of
our times that because of Covid 19 pandemic, the children are getting far-far
away from physical sports, games and exercises. It is true that young adults
take to the gym activity with time but still, television, computers, internet,
social media; chatting and virtual games spin a very attractive web for our
young children that entangle them drastically.
# CouchPotatoKids #CouchPotatoChildren #InactiveChildren #LazyChildren
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