Dr KK Aggarwal
Use of smartphones for 5 or more hours daily increases
the risk of obesity, suggests a new study presented at the recently concluded
ACC Latin America Conference 2019 in Cartagena, Colombia.
Students who used their smartphones for 5 or more
hours daily had a 43% increased risk of obesity and were more likely to
have other lifestyle habits that increase the risk of heart disease.
Researchers analyzed 1060 students (700 women and 360 men
with an average age of 19 years and 20 years respectively) of the Health
Sciences Faculty at the Simón Bolívar University during June to December 2018.
·
Participating men were 36.1% likely
to be overweight and 42.6% likely to be obese.
·
Women were around 64% likely
to be overweight and 57.4% likely to be obese.
·
The risk of obesity increased
by 43% if a smartphone was used 5 or more hours a day, as participating students
were twice as likely to drink more sugary drinks, fast food, sweets, snacks and
have decreased physical activity.
·
26% of the subjects who were
overweight and 4.6% who were obese spent more than 5 hours using their device.
This rise in the incidence of obesity among people who
use their smartphones for prolonged hours daily has been attributed to a
decrease in physical activity.
Smartphones have become an integral part of our daily
life now; one cannot imagine a life without them. They have certainly made life
easy and convenient, but is life really better now than what it was before we
all had a smartphone? This revolution has come at the cost of our health, both
physical and social. People who use phones a lot seem to suffer from increased
levels of feeling isolated, loneliness, depression and anxiety. Dependence on
technology has adversely affected our memory and attention span. Terms like
“text claw,” “Blackberry thumb,” “cellphone elbow”, “tech neck”, “nomophobia”
are becoming a part of our conversations.
The above study is another in the list of emerging
evidence about the negative repercussions of too much use of technology. There
is a need to create awareness that excess use of smartphones or any gadget does
not give enough time to relax between activities and rejuvenate, particularly
mentally.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart Care Foundation of
India
Past National President
IMA
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