While growing up, we weren't allowed to watch much TV. Mom said it dampened a child's creativity and made kids lazy--mentally and physically. That was back in the 1950s. Since then, thousands of studies have looked at how TV affects kids' grades, sleep, behavior, and health.TV has become a public health issue. First of all, kids get lots of information about health from TV, much of it from ads. And children tend to believe what the ads say, even though they might be untrue or unbalanced. If you don't believe it (HAH!), the next time you get tired of hearing your children beg for junk food, think about all those TV commercials.
[To listen to this article, a 3-minute audio file, subscribe to to my podcast feed (so you can open the attachment below) or to listen to the mp3 file now, simply click here]. Otherwise, heck, keep on reading...
On average, kids spend nearly four hours a day watching television, DVDs and videos. This can lead to childhood obesity and compromised health, because children who watch TV are more likely to be inactive and tend to snack while watching TV.
What I'm getting at, is something my Mom realized a half a century ago: If you want your kids to be healthy and to eat healthy, start by turning off the TV, or at the very least, limit the amount of watching time to one hour or less a day. If your kids want a snack, give them celery sticks and low fat Ranch dressing for dipping. Or how about cantaloupe and carrots--foods that are rich in beta-carotene for improving your child's eyesight?
If there's a fuss, avoid arguments about junk food by not bringing them into the house. Leave the candy, soft drinks, chips, and cookies at the store. And if turning off the tube sparks a riot, replace TV watching with activities like bike riding, hopscotch, walking the dog or planting pea, sunflower and carrot seeds in the garden.
In all fairness, TV has its good sides with educational and entertaining programming. I certainly had my fill of cartoons and Walt Disney. And I like to think my love for carrots and spinach came from Bugs Bunny and Popeye, though the jury's still out as to how TV watching affected me. Mom, what do you think? Mom?
WHERE TO GO FOR MORE INFO:
What do I need to know about children and TV?
University of Michigan Health Systems
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/tv.htm
The Smart Parent's Guide to Kid's TV--from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
http://www.aap.org/family/smarttv.htm
Got questions? Send me an email to mygarden@alaska.net.
See you next time,
Attachments:
