So getting down to it, what is the real problem with these time wasters? Yes, they encourage procrastination, make us late on deadlines, or prevent us from doing other things we should be doing, but do they have greater consequences? Video games and sitting around on a computer all day is a perfect example of Americans’ sedentary lifestyle. These time wasters are a big contribution to why we sit around much of our time, which is a big cause of the obesity problem here in the U.S. This article from WebMD News discusses how this problem is especially apparent in children. With kids turning to video games for their daily play times, their amount of exercise is decreasing dramatically. Kids may spend most of their day in front of a TV, computer, or a video game console. This problem also affects people of different age groups. Our culture is quickly turning more and more sedentary as we turn to doing most of our work on computers and also seeking much of our entertainment while inactive. Time wasters are a big part of this for a number of reasons.
First of all they take away from the time that we need to be sitting down working, usually on a computer. Instead of working, we turn to more entertaining games, online videos, and other time wasters that keep us sitting longer. Once we finally come to the point where we need to do the work we sat down to do, we must spend more time sitting down doing that. It simply adds onto the time that we spend unmoving. Also, for many people, these time wasters are addicting. Once we play or watch something for a little bit we want to keep playing or watching. These time wasters keep us mesmerized at our computers. Because we are drawn to continue sitting, we are more likely to snack and eat junk food.
This is likely very abundant in the lives of college students such as Texas A&M where I attend. Many college students are just learning responsibility and how to live their lives. They are at a point where they no longer have mommy and daddy telling them when they have to stop playing XBOX or when they need to get off the computer and go to bed. They have a newfound freedom and many use it to sit around and engage in whatever is the most entertaining and brings them the most fun. For many people this leads to sitting at home literally all day playing video games or watching TV, ordering pizza or making a quick trip to get fast food, and not getting up except to use the restroom. It is no wonder that kids first coming to college gain weight. Time wasters can be very dangerous if you have a lack of self-control.
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