Ranchi: For 13-year-old Shreya (name changed), mealtimes are no longer about nutrition, but a non-negotiable date with the television. Her parents, who initially dismissed her weight gain as “baby fat”, were recently jolted into reality when Shreya began struggling to perform simple tasks like holding a pen for long duration. A medical consultation revealed a grim diagnosis: Shreya is clinically obese, a condition driven by mindless overeating in front of the screen and a sedentary lifestyle dominated by scrolling through social media reels.Doctors have now placed her on a strict regimen of portion control and increased physical activity to prevent her condition from deteriorating further. Shreya’s case is a stark illustration of a growing urban crisis in Ranchi, where the “digital babysitter” is replacing the traditional family dinner table.Medical experts warn that the habit of having meals while watching screen disrupts fundamental physiological processes. Dr Rajiv Mishra, a paediatrician at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), explains that eating while distracted disturbs the ‘gut-brain axis’.“When a child watches a screen while eating, the secretion of digestive enzymes is affected, leading to poor digestion. They keep eating without knowing when to stop, which, coupled with a lack of physical movement, leads directly to childhood obesity,” Dr Mishra said. He further noted that the blue light emitted from mobile screens reduces melatonin secretion, severely impacting a child’s sleep patterns.Dr Siddhartha Sinha, senior consultant and neuro-psychiatrist at the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (Rinpas), warns that watching television or using a phone while eating may seem harmless but subtly alters a child’s psychological development and relationship with food. “When a child eats while distracted, they fail to notice hunger or fullness cues, making eating an automatic process rather than an intentional one,” he said.This lack of mindfulness weakens self-regulation skills and fosters an emotional dependence where screens become a coping mechanism for boredom. Furthermore, constant multitasking during meals trains the brain to expect continuous stimulation, leading to shorter attention spans, increased restlessness, and significant difficulty concentrating on single tasks in school.This “mindless eating” often results in children overeating as food becomes linked with entertainment rather than nourishment. Ultimately, the biggest issue is the loss of mindful connection and communication, a pattern frequently associated with heightened risks of childhood obesity and future body image concerns.For many working parents, the screen is an “easy way out” of a time-constrained day. Riddhi Singh, a working professional and mother of a six-year-old, admits to the guilt associated with this shortcut.“When we were young, our mothers or grandmothers would spend time with us, creating games to ensure we ate while we spoke about our day. Nowadays, I make my child sit in front of the TV so I can complete my chores. I know it is not right, and I fear my child might not develop the same bond with me as I had with my mother,” Singh confessed.
