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Tuesday 2 January 2018

Meddling addiction

From the BBC we have two reports which highlight the growing problem of meddling addiction.

Firstly we have

Half of the sugar young children in England consume comes from unhealthy snacks and sweet drinks, figures show.

On average, primary school children have at least three sugary snacks a day, Public Health England found.

This means they can easily consume three times more sugar than the recommended maximum.

PHE has launched a campaign to encourage parents to look for healthier snacks of no more than 100 calories - and to limit them to two a day.


Followed by

Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organisation.

Its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will include the condition "gaming disorder".

The draft document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests".

Some countries had already identified it as a major public health issue.

Many, including the UK, have private addiction clinics to "treat" the condition.

The last version of the ICD was completed in 1992, with the new guide due to be published in 2018.

It is all very worrying for anyone addicted to worrying, but perhaps this quote from the second worrying report may actually reduce the amount of worry.

Dr Richard Graham, lead technology addiction specialist at the Nightingale Hospital in London, welcomed the decision to recognise the condition.

"It is significant because it creates the opportunity for more specialised services. It puts it on the map as something to take seriously."

More specialised services eh? What a surprise.

2 comments:

Demetrius said...

You have only to watch the advert's on TV, notably the sports channels to have your mind battered by those for gambling firms and high sugar products. They present this as being desirable if not crucial to modern living. They are there at the click of gizmo. When star footballers have shirts adorned by betting advert's and are our role models then if I see myself as another Wayne Rooney then I will reach for the gizmo to place my bets.

A K Haart said...

Demetrius - things may be changing though. Our grandchildren don't watch TV, they watch programmes and films streamed via the internet. As far as I can tell they see fewer ads than I saw when I was about their age.