During the summer holidays, it can be hard taking care of your kids’ wellbeing while you’re still working full-time. Sure, it’s not a great idea to stick them in front of the TV all day while they should be out playing and getting some exercise, but needs must, right? However, according to a new study, published in the American Journal of Human Biology, excessive TV watching could affect child wellness more than you realise; by hampering their body coordination.
Based on data from more than 200 children, the researchers found that children who spend more than three-quarters of their time watching Television or playing video games are nine times more prone to poor body coordination when compared to their peers who are active. These sedentary children were unable to do simple tasks, such as balancing, jumping up and down, hopping on one leg over an obstacle, or shifting a platform. Dr Luis Lopes, of the University of Minho in Portugal, explained, ‘Childhood is a critical time for the development of motor coordination skills which are essential for health and wellbeing. We know sedentary lifestyles have a negative effect on these skills and are associated with decreased fitness, lower self-esteem, decreased academic achievement and increased obesity.’
However, this was more of a health concern for boys than girls. In girls who spent more than 77.3% of their time being inactive, the likelihood of having a bad motor coordination was four to five times higher than their active counterparts. Yet boys who spent 76% of their time being inactive were between five and nine times more likely to have bad motor coordination. According to Dr Lopes, ‘High sedentary behaviour had a significant impact on the children’s motor coordination, with boys being more adversely affected than girls.’
For the study, the researchers assessed the sedentary behaviour and physical activity of 110 girls and 103 boys, over a period of five days. The children came from 13 urban schools and were aged nine to ten. Dr Lopes noted, ‘The results demonstrate the importance of setting a maximum time for sedentary behaviour, while encouraging children to increase their amount of physical activity. We hope our findings will make a valuable contribution to the debate on child health and encourage future investigations on this subject.’
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