There is a commercial on TV for our cable provider that irritates me to no end.  It starts with a toddler watching a favorite character on  a television show, then the toddler moves into the car and watches the same character on a screen in the car, then the toddler goes into the mall to meet this character and then flips out when he sees him in person.  He starts crying in fear, his mom comforts him, and the way she gets him to calm down is by wheeling him out of the mall in a stroller while he watches the character on a portable handheld screen.  At the end of the show, the spokesperson says something about how the digital age is coming.

If the “digital age” means my young kids are constantly plugged into electronics and getting freaked out about the real world around them then I really would rather not be a part of the digital age, thank you very much.

I know a lot of parents are up in arms about the amount of television their kids watch, but with video games and other electronic devises being marketed to babies nowadays I wonder if people realize that video games are in the same boat as television.  Both promote inactivity (with the exception of certain video games that are designed to get kids moving) and free play that utilizes imagination.

At a recent play date my preschool daughter stumbled upon her friend’s game system and had so much fun with it that she stopped socializing with everyone and retreated to a corner to play the games until I made her go play with her friends.  My son – who is not yet at an age when he should be playing video games – was right there next to her, staring wide-eyed at the screen and not interacting with anyone.

Don’t get me wrong; I see the potential benefits of having my kids glued to the screen whenever they wanted to, whether they’re watching TV or playing video games.  I would probably get a lot more done during the day and there would probably be a lot less bickering too.  I also imagine that both my kids could learn a lot if they watched the right shows and played educational games.  What about the downside? I think the cons outweigh the pros.  I want my kids to be active and I want them to know how to entertain themselves.  I want them to use their imagination and I want to interact with them instead of relying on games or shows to keep them engaged.

This doesn’t mean my kids don’t watch any TV at all, and we do have a Leapster.  On the other hand, I closely monitor how much they watch/play and make sure that I’m engaging them in other interesting things too.  I just don’t want my kids to turn into little digitally-reliant children who would rather play a video game than notice the world around them.

Like I needed another reason to detest video games.

I’ve always thought of video games as a pretty big waste of time. They’re overpriced and addictive, and the consoles could really do some damage if they landed on a child’s head. Now Green Peace has released a report that makes the claim that game consoles like Playstation, XBox, and all the other popular consoles might contain harmful components that aren’t usually allowed into toys. The problem is that video game consoles don’t fall under the same regulatory laws as other toys do, so manufacturers are allowed to put things like bromine, PVC, and all sorts of other dangerous chemicals into the consoles.

Do you really want these chemicals sitting in your living room?

You probably already know that most childhood experts consider excessive video game play among children to be detrimental, but now you have to worry about the actual materials contained within the console too. Greenpeace makes the claim that technology exists for game manufacturers to produce greener consoles, but whether they actually will depends on how willing the game comapanies are to change their ways.

As for me, I’ll just keep the consoles out of the house altogether.

According to an article on American Trails, visits to the United States National Parks have been steadily decreasing over the years. And everywhere we turn, experts are warning us about the negative effects of our increasingly sedentary lifestyle, the number one being that our children are becoming the same. Coupled with the unhealthy eating habits children are mimicking their parents, this has resulted in a never before seen number of overweight, even obese children.

In today’s digital age of iPods, HDTVs, PSPs and XBoxes, it seems kids today have less and less reason to play actively. But as parents, consider what your kids could be missing out on: a love of nature, an outlet to burn energy, and a boost to their health. Studies across different countries have shown that kids who were more active had “healthier numbers for blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin” (Source: Live Science).

As a mom of a 7 mo. old, and a mom who has, let’s just say “big bones”, I worry about what this nation of fast-food and sedentary play will do to my baby. My husband and I already vowed to never bring her to the ubiquitous McDonald’s and their counterparts, unless she in the future begs to go and only for special occasions. I also want to introduce her to the outdoors, and the number one promise: limit her TV to 1 hour a day once she’s a bit older.

She shouldn’t have any TV yet at her age anyway. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourage TV for children under the age of 2. The AAP cites that this age is critical for personal interaction, especially parent to children interaction. They urge parents not to use TV as a babysitter. And I tend to agree.

It’s never too early to instill the habit of active play, and this means that as parents, you must be the example, and the one to actively entice your children to physical activity. As much as possible, try not to just let them veg out in front of the TV.

What can you do to make sure your child isn’t always parked in front of a TV or computer?

• Enroll them in an activity that involves lots of action like karate, gymnastics. I’m not a big fan of Gymboree but they at least offer an outlet for babies to crawl and meet other babies (and for parents to meet other parents too).
• Set aside time several times a week to bike with your children, visit the park, or walk around the neighborhood pushing the younger kids in a stroller while the older ones try their scooter . Kids love spending time with their parents, and this activity ensures that you build memories with your kids while being active at the same time.
• Encourage your kids to play outside with friends. Of course monitor who they hang out with, and give them clear boundaries on where they can and can’t play. I know parents in my neighborhood who park themselves on the driveway or porch in lounge chairs, chatting with each other while the kids play on the street. For parents with younger kids, set up playdates.
• Build a kid-friendly backyard. If you have a house make your backyard a friendly place for your kids to want to hang out: a swing-set, a trampoline (but monitor them), sandbox, a tree-house or a fort. Make it the kind of place their friends would want to come over and play in as well.
• If you live in an apartment, make good use of the kiddie pool that is in most apartment complexes.
• Limit TV, Computer, Video games to a set time and your kids will be forced to become creative with their play!

Applying even a few of these suggestions will help ensure that your kids not be one of the statistics of unhealthy children in our country. Hope they help!

What about you? What do you do in your home to encourage active play?

I recently overheard a department store employee tempting a mother to purchase one gaming system over another largely because the “extra activity of this system will burn off more energy.” Mom seemed intrigued.

Looking down the aisle, I noticed her son was a couple Oreo’s short of “husky” size. So I give the salesman credit for speaking to his audience.

If you haven’t guessed already, the gaming system he was peddling was none other than Nintendo’s Wii. If you’re not familiar with the Wii – it’s the gaming system that requires one to swing the control to hit a tennis ball, to leverage your baseball bat, to bowl your ball, etc. It combines movement with video games. Chances are, many of you bought one for your little ones this past holiday… and good for you – it’s one of the hottest gaming system available (in fact, it was the best selling console system in Canada and trailed only other Nintendo systems in the U.S.).

Now, back to topic – this isn’t the first time I’ve heard the suggestion that the Wii is an excellent solution to the growing childhood obesity problem. I decided this necessitated a little research.

Fortunate for me, ostensibly well paid, highly educated smart folks have already done all the legwork for me. The good chaps over at the BMJ (British Medical Journal) did a thorough study of “sedentary” versus “new generation active” gaming systems. You can find the whole report here .

Well, it turns out the notion that new generation gaming systems will trim down tubby kids is, well, wii-diculous (I just couldn’t help it, sorry…).

In general, kids burn roughly 179 calories per hour on the Wii, while the same kid is likely to burn only 107 calories per hour on the Xbox. Now, that is a pretty big increase – but considering that you could sit on your touche doing nothing but flipping magazine pages for an hour and burn 70 calories, it’s not very remarkable.

Yes, you’ll burn a few more calories per hour – but a workout this is not.

A decent new tennis racket can be had for under$100 bucks and it burns on average 320 calories per hour for your typical kid. Perhaps working a little of the real in with a little of the virtual could keep the kids healthy in the future.