"Screen Time" and Health

Well, my husband and I are considering buying more board games! Read on to find out why...

Putting time limits on technology and "screen time" has come up here on my blog a few times before, and I continue to see related topics pop up in various places. I heard a story on NPR about how cell phones (with email, games, apps, etc.) can cause disconnect in marriages- they've become such a distracting and time-consuming part of our daily lives that we often don't realize they're compromising our interpersonal interactions. During a recent book study with other school counselors, the conversation turned to whether the habits of texting and emailing are impacting children's social skills. Several counselors observed that many kids are comfortable texting, emailing, and playing videogames, but seem challenged when it comes to interacting directly with each other during general play, sports, board games, or conversations. Lastly, today at a counselors' tour of a local business, the company's representatives mentioned communication skills as one of the most critical areas to focus on as we prepare our students for the workplace. They said that even the young people who come in with a good resume and experience often aren't able to communicate effectively with interviewers and coworkers, and it can cost them job offers and promotions.

Anyway, among all those tidbits, the latest reason I've seen to consider limiting "screen time" and encouraging non-electronic activities at home is research suggesting that the more sedentary "screen time" (TV, video games, computer, phone, etc.) adults have, the more likely they are to have heart attacks, heart disease, or earlier death. The particularly worrisome part of the article for me was that exercise did not protect people from the negative effects of the screen time! It was the amount of screen time that brought on the effects; the amount of exercise didn't seem to make any difference. In children, those who watched between 1.5 and 5.5 hours of TV a day had higher blood pressure than the kids who watched less than 30 minutes, even if the former were thin and physically active. Interestingly, reading and board games seemed to be less harmful than sedentary time with screens. 

Of course, I've only been seeing and hearing this information in the general news media and I haven't examined the actual research myself. But it sure is enough to make me pay attention to how much screen time I accumulate, and seek out more opportunities to turn off the TV and computer to read, play board games, or find other non-electronic things to do! I hope you don't think I'm too off-topic; I thought I'd share this information with you since I think the bigger picture relates to children's physical, social, and academic development, as well as building strong family relationships.

If you'd like to read the article, you can click here.