Too much TV time for kids: Report

Lora Grindlay, The Province
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hours spent parked in front of computers and televisions are robbing Canada's kids of time spent being active.

And for many kids, their sedentary lifestyle may lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Those are the findings from a report released yesterday called Canada's Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. An overall grade of D was given for the fourth consecutive year in relation to the physical activity levels of youth.

Michelle Brownrigg, head of the charitable group Active Healthy Kids Canada, who released the report along with three partners, said an interdisciplinary team of experts graded various efforts to get kids active.

Flagged as a critical issue in this year's report is the shocking amount of "screen-time" activity.

"It's quite concerning. The new data showing that we are starting at such a young age to build a sedentary kind of culture in front of the screen," she said.

"That grows over time as kids become more sophisticated in how they use their screens."

Guidelines from pediatric groups recommend no more than two hours of screen time a day for school-aged kids and no more than one hour for preschoolers.

"We're approaching five-and-a-half to six hours per day for school-age children and we're approaching two hours per day for preschoolers," she said.

Some kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time work week sitting in front of a screen, she said.

"Clearly, there is a trade-off for the amount of time that kids have to be active if they are spending that much time in front of the screen," said Brownrigg.

She said kids are generally not meeting the guideline of 90 minutes of physical activity every day. The report says 26 per cent of Canadian children and youths are overweight or obese.
Parents need to enforce limits at home, Brownrigg said, and schools, daycare centres, government and industry can all play a role in increasing the number of opportunities kids have to play.

Gordon Hogg, B.C.'s minister of state for ActNow B.C., an initiative promoting healthy living, said dealing with rising obesity rates must include a response to cultural change.

Increased screen time is "one of a myriad of factors," that has led to twice the number of overweight kids and triple the number of obese kids in B.C. over 20 years, he said.

Inactivity is part of today's culture, said Hogg. It's a drive-through, not a walk-to culture, he said.

"It is something that is happening societally," he said.

"What we should be looking at is how do we change our society to be more responsive, to be more active, to be more engaged and focus on a healthier way of being."

lgrindlay@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2008