“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master” (Lange 1)

The historian, Christian Lous Lange’s quote on the benefits and dangers of technology in 1921 is extremely relevant in our society today. This paper examines how the development of technology has negatively affected physical health by way of increasing obesity rates. It also explains how technology can also provide immediate solutions to the obesity crisis.

Although the advances in technology have provided many life-changing medical advancements, have created increased media expansion, and have increased accessibility to education in many communities worldwide, the negative effects have been rapidly growing. The exponential growth of technology in the past century has brought a huge change in the types of food people consume and large decreases in the amount of physical activity they participate in. The levels of obesity are rapidly rising around the world and leading to increased deaths due to heart disease and other illnesses from sedentary lifestyles. More time consumed in sedentary activities has been caused by the increased addiction to screens and decreasing time participating in physical activity. The root cause of these issues is examined in the amount of time we spend growing up in a culture addicted to technology as well as the growing level of distractions that are increasing the amount of time we spend on screens.

How Technology Can Help

However, there are manifold ways technology can currently help solve the obesity crisis. Although we can blame the development of the internet and addictive social media developments, there are many companies that are using technology to their advantage to create healthier lifestyle choices in our society. This paper explores the solutions such as numerous apps to track, maintain, educate, and coach people on physical activity and nutritious choices as well as the new innovations in wearable technology to monitor overall health.

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Citations:

Lange, C. (n.d.-a). The Nobel Peace Prize 1921. NobelPrize.org. Link