Okay, I just heard this argument on the news AGAIN and it's really starting to piss me off. People are claiming that video games and computers have made children/teens lazy and somehow this relates directly to childhood obesity/being overweight. I'm on the computer almost all day and am 188cm, 63.5kg. Maybe I'm an anomaly, but I don't think entertainment is to blame.

imo, change in diet is what has made people fat, not video games/computers. If people stop shoving their bloated faces with sweets/desserts, maybe this problem would be alleviated a little? As it stands, a whopping 50% of Americans are "overweight," with many of them classified as "obese" or "morbidly obese."

Started around 2004:

http://children.webmd.com/news/20040702/video-games-tv-double-childhood-obesity-risk

Even McDonald's head boss passed the blame to video games:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29268/McDonalds-boss-Games-to-blame-for-childhood-obesity

"...suggests that governments limit television and video games in after-school programs"

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5800R320090901

Your thoughts? Are videogames and computers to blame for the spike in children and young adults being overweight?

It could make kids fat, but everybody is different. I haven't played a sport since I was 10yo, and have been spending most of my free time on video games,computers,tv since I was 4. I am underweight for my age and I guess my height, weighing in at 108lbs @ the height of 5ft 7in. I will tell you this though, I haven't eaten a hamburger since I was 7... maybe it is America's eating habits that is making it so fat?

I blame TV.

So much crap yet people spend SO MUCH TIME watching that very crap.

Anyone else care to share their viewpoints?

Well I guess that would explain the millions of overweight baby boomers that have never touched a game controller.

it depends on the metabolism of the person, for ex. my metabolism is very slow, so i cant just game, otherwise i'd be very fat, i need to exercise myself or cut on the food, but i believe theres way of accelerating metabolism, in other words, people blame on video games what they should be blaming on the crappy(yet tasty) food they eat.

Well, I did read this today: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090909/kids_ontario_090909/20090909?hub=Health

Basically, canadian kids eat too much junk food and don't exercise enough. Though the only comparative data they provide is that in 1999 1 in 5 kids ate enough vegetables and fruits, and today only 1 in 8 do. Also, during the winter many kids don't get any exercise which puts them at increased risk of heart disease and whatnot.

About the OP article, this is more of a lifestyle issue than anything else. If kids are playing video games and eating chips all the time, obviously that's a problem. But they could just as easily be reading a book, watching tv or just sitting around eating junk food too.

I believe that all of what I could have said on the subject has been said, although I will say this: I happen to be one of those obese Americans who is guilty of both "crimes against metabolism" but I would be quicker to blame my diet rather than my gaming, although I wouldn't easily part with either...

Video games didn't make fat kids fat, fat kids made fat kids fat.

yeah its not the parents fault who feed the kids mcdonalds 4 nights a week, its the video games.