Impact of Technology on Children's Health

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Modernization upgraded civilization and created a superior society that surpassed every individual's expectations. This transformation conveyed a revolution in the field of technology—a battle that is designed to enhance every individual's capabilities. However, the question lies in the saying that "in every good there is evil." The wickedness in technology sits in its negative impacts in the society that shape the philosophy of the people, especially the young minds. These negative impacts, when not balanced with its positive influences, can turn to twist the fundamental principles of technology, which is to help people.
Technology has a significant impact on the health aspect of children. While the developments in medical technology have extended the life of many children with medical necessities, these also significantly affected their quality of life because of dependence (Mesman, Kuo, Caroll, & Ward, 2013). On average, an American child, age eight to eighteen-years-old spends 7.5 hours of screen time every day. Children who are dependent on their gadgets are more likely to have physical inactivity that promotes a sedentary lifestyle. This, in addition to the high caloric intake, predisposes the children to obesity, which may be a precipitating risk factor for incurring several cardiovascular, pulmonary, and endocrine diseases such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes mellitus, and Cushing's Syndrome (Merkel, 2013).
Physical inactivity can also be due to the use of cars for transportation and lack of interest in outdoor events and physical education. This can lead to musculoskeletal dysfunction and pain. The strength of bones increases as the muscles pull on them. Without physical activity, this can result in osteoporosis or a lack of bone mineral density and osteoarthritis. Both of these consequently induce pain (Merkel, 2013).
Moreover, the lack of physical activity can predispose a child to muscle atrophy, which is the decrease in the cross-sectional area of the muscle. Thus, reducing the strength of the child. Additionally, physical activity stimulates the child's gross and fine motor skills. These factors significantly delay the healthy growth and development of the child (Merkel, 2013).
The hindrance in child development is not only limited to physical characteristics. Speech and language development is also affected by the inexplicably high rates of screen media time. Duch, Fisher, Ensari, & Harrington (2013) found that 82% of one-year-olds and 95% of two-year-olds enjoy spending time in front of the television and other gadgets that provide videos on a standard day.
Adverse cognitive developmental effects are also inevitable due to prolonged television exposure. This is highly associated with short-term memory loss, poor academic performance in specific subjects such as mathematics and language development. Surprisingly, even the background television display has been found to harm the child's cognitive function (Duch, Fisher, Ensari, & Harrington, 2013).
The behavioral effects of the heavy use of technology, particularly the traditional and non-traditional media, is also often neglected. Prolonged exposure...