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Many things have changed our world today.
- Fourth Industrial Revolution: The introduction of mobile devices, big data, artificial intelligence, automation, etc. have brought great conveniences to our daily life and also gradually eliminated labour-intensive works.
- Disease outbreaks: Diseases have been spreading across countries or continents one after another, for example, mad-cow disease, SARS, H1N1, COVID, Ebola, and so forth.
- Population changes: Advancement of medical technology has increased the life expectancy. With the shrinking of nuclear families, the population size of elderly increases proportionately, hence the concern of ageing population.
- Food technology: Our food consumption habits and diet have changed a lot with the evolution and invention of food technology. Many fast foods and processed foods are made to cater the needs of our fast-pace society.
In this article, let’s look at some implications that are around us and likely to be more apparent in our future generations.
Obesity
One of the alarming health problems in many developed and developing countries is obesity. It is getting serious with the availability of processed, preserved and fast foods. On top of that, technology has also made our lifestyle less active. Few examples of lifestyle and diet that contribute to obesity include:
- Sweet foods and beverages such as branded coffee, bubble tea, pastries
- Foods high in fat content, e.g., fried foods, red meat, processed foods
- High-salt foods for instants snacks, burgers, pizzas, instant noodles, preserved foods
- Smoking and drinking alcohol due to stressful lifestyle
- Sedentary lifestyle, especially long hours sitting and lack of exercise
All these have impacted vast population of all age groups especially the younger generations and working adults. Inevitably, you will develop more and more chronic illnesses as you age.
Mobile phone-associated syndromes
Mobile phone is one of the greatest inventions in our era, almost 83% of the world population today owns at least 1 mobile phone. However, having a mobile phone also comes with many long-term implications, for example:
- Upper-crossed syndrome: Spending long hours on mobile phone with poor posture can cause headache, neck pain, upper back pain, muscle soreness, etc.
- Poor vision: Mobile phone users tend to focus too long and stare at the small screen, this can cause eye tiredness and could affect your vision.
- Poor hearing: Many people also like to blast music using their phones with Bluetooth earbuds or headsets. This could eventually damage your hearing and cause deafness.
- Nomophobia: This is a psychological condition where people fear of being detached or disconnected from mobile phone. This may cause increased heart rate and blood pressure, shortness of breath, anxiety, nausea, depression, fear, and panic.
- Social disconnection: As it is too convenient to connect with people digitally using mobile phone, people tend to lose physical touch and social connectivity with family and friends.
Sleep deprivation
Today’s society is getting more competitive and stressful than ever before. From schooling to working, you want to be successful, you want to outsmart the other person. This has caused very high stress and made you less and less happier.
Aside from stresses, technology advancement has also taken too much of your attention. As mentioned earlier, mobile devices are getting more and more powerful. You can store thousands of games and movies, access internet and work wherever you are. Yes, it brings a lot of conveniences and entertainments, it is a great tool for destress; But it also causes addiction and distractions.
In the end, you are left with shorter hours of sleep, and you get poor quality sleep. Over time, it will affect your health.
Weak immunity
With the modernisation of our world, you are gradually exposed to all kinds of dangerous substances through the foods you consume, water you drink, and air you breath in.
You are constantly exposed to more pollutants and allergens nowadays. Infectious diseases are getting common, and many people are too dependent on medications and vaccines. Lifestyle habits such as smoking and drinking have also increased your risks to illnesses.
During these few years of COVID pandemic, face mask has become an essential item in your daily life. There are many cheap and substandard face masks in the market. Did you know that these substandard face masks may have lose particles or fibres that you could have breathed in to your lungs? What would happen if the fibres or foreign particles accumulate in your lungs over time?
Weaker limbs
Sedentary lifestyle is because of reduced movement. There are more people working desk-bound job for long hours nowadays. On top of that, mobile devices have gotten most of your attention and time. If you continue to live a sedentary lifestyle and lack exercises, sooner or later, it will reduce your energy level and immunity.
Another problem is with Personal Mobility Vehicle (PMV). As population ages, PMV has become very common in many countries. The initial intention was good, it minimises inconveniences for many elderly and disabled people.
Unfortunately, it has been misused to be an alternative means of vehicle. There are many ambulant person use PMV more often; there are also many delivery riders driving PMV every day to run errands. Once these groups of people are reliant on PMV, they will soon become too lazy to walk. What could potentially happen is their lower limbs get weaker, they could have increased risk of slip-trip-fall, knee pain, weak joints, etc.
Conclusion
All the above are purely a collection from my day-to-day observations. My intention here is to plant a seed in your mind for you to see what’s happening around you. Health agencies will take years to collect data before making a policy or advocate certain campaigns.
If you happen to have any of the above concern, I appeal to you to act now, start making changes on your diet and lifestyle within yourselves and for your loved ones before it is too late.
Footnote: My sincere apology for the late publishing of this article as I was hospitalised for few days, and I have just been discharged and rather disoriented. You can read more about it in a special feature.
