There is a new type of sickness out there. Its symptoms
include weight gain and anti-social behaviour. If care is not taken it can even
lead to you losing your job. The new sickness is called Social Media Weight
Gain. It has long been suspected that too much social media consumption can be
bad for you and now there is proof that this could indeed be the case.
Teenagers are warned!
Social Media and always being online can make you fat. A new
study suggests that the more time we spend on Facebook, Twitter or other social
networking sites, the less active we are and the more susceptible to weight
gain we become.
In the study, researchers from the University of Ulster in
Northern Ireland had 350 students complete an online survey. The students
answered questions about their levels of social networking activity and
physical activity.
Most students used social networking sites for an average of
one hour each day, according to the study. Slightly more than half of the
students rated themselves as "moderately active," one-third of the
participants said they were "highly active" and 12.7% reported
"low physical activity". Of the students involved in the study, 25%
said they participated in team sports.
What the study found
What the study found
After examining the information collected, however, the
researchers found that time the students spent on social networking sites cut
into time they spent exercising or being physically active. The study also
found people who were fans of Facebook were less likely to play team sports.
"Time is a finite resource, so time spent in social
networking must come at the expense of other activities. Our study suggests
that physical activity may be one of those activities," study lead author
Dr Wendy Cousins, a psychologist at the University of Ulster, said in a
university news release.
"Our findings are intriguing," she added,
"but we have not conclusively demonstrated that social networking causes
lower levels of physical activity. We will need to carry out more research to
see if it really is a case of Facebook makes you fat rather than Twitter makes
you fitter."
The study was expected to be presented at the annual
conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology
in Liverpool. Research presented at medical meetings is typically considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
You don’t have to look too far if you want to make up your
own mind as to the validity of these claims. South Africans are certainly not
faultless on this front. Look around you when next you take part in some social
activity such as a September 24th Heritage Day braai. A nice
gathering of your friends and family will prove the point that people are over
indulging in social media and here is the litmus test: See how long it takes at
the braai until you spot someone on their mobile phone. You will be amazed at
how attached your friends and family have become with smartphones and not just
because they have fancy phones, it’s because of all the social media
applications available on these devices.
This is a sickness with only one cure – abstinence. This is
really not a sex-ed lesson but a life lesson. If you have stopped going to gym
or for walks because you suffer from some insatiable need to consume media, the
best thing to do would be to set aside time for some physical pursuits and to
re-engage with society through active participation in physical exercise even
if it means you take your dog for walks (instead of hiring someone to do that
for you).
Put away your phone so that you are not tempted to stare at
the screen every waking minute of your life. Remember, exercise is still the
only feel good drug out there without any harmful side-effects. Perhaps if more
people exercised the world would be a much happier place.
Have an absolutely amazing week and stay away from Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn etc…
David
P.S. Happy Heritage Day for next Monday.