Fill in the blank with only ONE word.

 

Technology contributes to the changes in “Children’s lifestyles from previous (1)

. One of the biggest differences in the way that children live today is that they don’t get as much (2)

as they used to. Child obesity rates have risen drastically over the past several decades. In 2012, the child obesity rate was measured to be (3)

percent, which is an 1 1-point difference from the obesity rate in 1980. In addition, nowadays, kids do not experience the benefits of spending time (4)

when they are heavily reliant on technology for entertainment purposes. Recent research has shown screens from devices such as tablets and smart phones emit harmful blue light that can cause (5)

, eyestrain and irritated eyes for children. Furthermore, sleep is also disturbed by harmful blue light when children are exposed fo screen time in the evening.

Technology also changes the way kids socialize and interact with others. This can have huge impacts on their mental and emotional well-being. High (6)

of social media use can lower self-esteem and create negative moods. More importantly, it lowers children's frequency of interacting with their peers. This makes it more difficult for them to pick up on social cues and develop meaningful (7)

with others. This isn’t to say that all technology is bad. In fact, it provides tons of positive opportunities for learning, entertaining, and socializing, but it should be monitored and used appropriately.