I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m officially not a kid anymore.  Sounds shocking, I know.  I’m only 36 years old.  Unfortunately, I find myself thinking things like “…my kids watch too much television…” and “…they need to get outside and exercise more…”  I find myself pondering these things at the same time I’m adding channels to our satellite television package and upgrading to a DVR.  That makes sense, doesn’t it?

I must be a relic.  I grew up in a small town, and we lived a few miles outside of town, at that.  Most of the families that lived around us were older, married couples without kids.  My brother, sister, and myself learned to entertain one another.  Of course, we had a television, but the only channels we got were off-air broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS).  It was a huge deal for us when FOX started broadcasting in our area, and we got a fourth channel.  That was around the time I turned 12-years old.  My parents got their first satellite about the time I was starting college, so as a kid, I just didn’t watch much television.  At least compared to the amount of television my kids watch, it wasn’t much.  We read a lot of books, and spent a great deal of time outside playing together.  Now we have a DVR so the kids can record all the shows they missed while they were at school.  Woo, hoo!  Right.

Why am I thinking about his?  As I said, we just added channels to our satellite package, and then I read headlines like this one from FOX News.  This article discusses the effect of television advertising on child obesity.  What they found is that fast food advertising has a dramatic effect on kids eating habits.  It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.  Every time we ask our kids where they want to eat, my youngest pipes up with “Max Donald’s.”  Yes, he says “max.”  It’s pretty well accepted that there’s a link between fast food and obesity, and the no company is interested in spending money on advertising that doesn’t increase sales.  So, by exposing them to so much television, we’re creating fat kids.  If you’ve watched WALL-E, it paints a pretty ugly picture of the future of mankind in that regard.

So, what’s the solution?  Honestly, I just don’t know.  The truth of the matter is that we can’t restrict our kids from watching television.  They have to learn how to live in the world, and television is ubiquitous in our country.  We do restrict the amount of time they can spend in front of the television, and encourage them to go outside or read a book when “the tube” is turned off.  I think that’s about the best we can hope for.  What about the readers?  How do you deal with television time in your household?  I think as parents, we’re all looking for ideas on how to balance what our kids enjoy doing against what is good for them.  Chime in and let’s discuss the subject.