Treehugger – Katherine Martinko
“Whether you want to avoid setting your kids up for a fatter, less healthy adulthood, or wish to inspire them to careers that embrace nature, there are many reasons why turning off indoor distractions is a good idea. A child is only small for a few short years, but those early years are extremely important. The way in which parents guide and direct their children at the beginning of their lives has a long-lasting effect and can influence what kind of adults those children become… researchers found that subjects who watched more TV as children were most likely to watch more TV in middle age. Those who watched more than 3 hours of TV at age 42 also had watched a lot of TV at age 10. It was also found that a person’s BMI increased according to the amount of TV watched…So turn off those indoor distractions. Take your kids outside for a walk, a bike ride, or a lengthy play in the backyard. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, just something that can be sustained daily.”(more)