Brain Rules for Baby (John Medina) / quote 51 of 91
Video games and childhood obesity
What does that literature say about video games and developing brains in babies? There’s not much, and it paints a decidedly mixed picture. This is understandable. The subject is too new, and the technology undergirding it is changing too rapidly. So what parents of newborns and toddlers should know about gaming comes not from data about what video games do to the mind but from what video games do to the body. As with television, most video games are consumed in a sedentary position: You sit there. Movement-oriented game consoles such as the Wii, which debuted in 2006, potentially provide an exception, but they seem to have made little dent: Kids’ weight is still rising precipitously. So pronounced is this weight-gain trend that our children are starting to get diseases usually associated with middle and later life—including arthritis! Childhood obesity is three times more prevalent in gamers than in non-gamers.