USE THIS TECH TO GET YOUR KIDS OFF THE COUCH
The doldrums of winter are upon us and adults aren’t the only ones capable of adding a cozy layer of winter hibernation fat — kids are just as susceptible too. For those in cold climates, activity levels slow way down and there just aren't as many opportunities to get out there and vigorously play -– you can only build a snowman for so long. Technology, hailed for its innovation and ability to organize our lives, has also been on the receiving end of some bad press when it comes to kids. The Kaiser Foundation found that kids aged 8-18 spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using a variety of media gadgets during the day. Aside from time spent in school, that is nearly all of their waking hours. Who has time to exercise with all that screen time? Of course, family has a tremendous impact on how kids are using technology. A study by the YMCA found that 42% of parents blame technology for their kids’ lack of exercise, yet 53% of them will readily spend their leisure time with the kids on the computer or playing video games. Technology is ingrained in our kids’ lives but instead of blaming it for rising levels of obesity, perhaps we can use their reliance on tech to their health advantage and leverage it as a motivating tool to get them more active. While I’m not a proponent of plopping kids down with tech to appease their pleas of “I’m boooored,” neither am I an advocate of more tech time. However, if they’re going to be using technology anyway, at least let's make it pay off for them in some way other than getting to the next level of Subway Surfers. Here are a handful of cool tech-focused gadgets and websites geared towards kids that will help motivate them to get active and most importantly, get their keisters off the couch.
