Screen Time Reduction Tips
Childhood obesity rates are at the all-time high and sugar is the leading cause for our broken brains in adulthood. We have arrived to an age where spending a weekend binge watching Netflix is totally acceptable in our society even though growing up we were told television will fry your brain.
Most of all when we spend time watching TV the best partner is food. Processed food and sugar during television/screen time plays a big roll in childhood obesity and ongoing weight and health issues in adulthood.
The first part in changing this is to identify the patterns and bring conscious awareness to the amount of screen time spent in a day or week. Next is to develop a plan to break the cycle rather than taking the easy route and keep doing what we have comfortably done without conscious thought.
There are staggering scary facts about snacking and screen time:
Those of us who watch more tv are more likely to eat foods high in sugar and fat.
Studies show that more tv children watch the more likely they are to be obese.
Children who are sitting around watching tv are not burning up calories by active play.
We tune out our bodies hunger signals when tuned into tv. Have you ever eaten a whole bag of chips without even realizing it?
The foods children and many adults snack on while watching tv are often the wrong kinds of foods.
Helpful tips on cutting down your screen time:
If you or your child wants a snack while watching tv choose a healthy snack from the green light food list (whole foods). I personally don’t even stock the bad foods in my house because they would get eaten during this time so it’s best not to have around.
Set up family guidelines for tv watching when the best times to watch tv are or how much you think is acceptable and stick to your plan.
Limit tv viewing to 1 or 2 hours a day. Maybe you try no tv during the week limit it to weekends only.
Read to your children and show your kids that you enjoy reading. Let them see you reading rather than watching tv to relax.
Make conversation a priority in your home. There are conversation jars that you can make or purchase with thought provoking fun questions that can help you get to know your family and friends even more. You can find easily on Pintrest.
Don’t allow the tv to be on during meals.
Movement Ideas:
You don’t have to participate in formal physical activities to get exercise. You can move for the fun of it! Physical activities like taking the dog for a walk, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking farther away from the building all cause the muscles in our bodies to move and use energy which improves our health.
Throwing a frisbee, getting out the hula hoops, turn on music and dance, jump rope, bowling, go to the roller skating rink or sledding hill. Find an indoor pool that has open swim- kids love this in the winter. Just one hour total a day of any activity like this you are well on your way to better health.
It starts with you! Be well friends.
Love and Light,
Amber
