Due to technological advances, children spend more and more time in front of a screen and less time exercising or generally participating in some sort of activity. This fact, along with unhealthy or excessive food consumption, can lead to obesity. Therefore, there guidelines have been issued regarding how long children should spend in front of a screen and the time that should be spent in exercising.
Between the ages of 3 to 18 children should spend at least 1 hour in physical activity daily. A good idea would be to include a variety of free-play activities for ages 3-6 within the week to keep children interested. For ages 7 to 18 both organized and non-structured physical activity is acceptable.
As far as screen time is concerned; up to the age of 2 screen time should be avoided. From 3-18 years of age, guidelines suggest 1-2 hours per day maximum.
Some basic guidelines you could follow are:
- Encourage kids to exercise or play outdoors.
- Set a good example and exercise yourself.
- Remove screens from their bedrooms.
- Screens should be prohibited at the dinner table.
- Don’t use screen-time as a reward or punishment.
Physical activity and a balanced diet help healthy child development, prevent certain illness, promote socialization and help children perform better in school.