85% of mothers admitted to using technology to keep their 2 – 12 year-old kids occupied while they get on with other activities. A child now is spending double the amount of time in front of a screen than spent playing outside. By age seven the average child will have spent a full year of 24 hour days watching a screen. Let that sink in; that’s 365 x 24 = 8760 hours of screen time in the life of a 7 year old.

​Too much screen time can encourage addictions, cause difficulty sleeping, raise a child’s risk of attention problems, anxiety, depression and obesity.
 
How is this relevant to health?
“Screen Time” includes time spent looking at smartphones, tablets, computers and televisions.
Screen Time is a sedentary behaviour. Watching TV, playing video games or working on a computer which means you are not physically active.
 
This causes an addiction. An early taste for entertainment screen media can lead to changes in the brain chemistry by releasing dopamine; a neurotransmitter known as ‘the pleasure chemical’ which is the same chemical released when abusing cocaine. Neuroscientists are finding this dopamine being produced stimulated by playing computer games may change the brains behaviour making children more addicted to screens.
 
How much screen time for children?
Not Much – simple.
Under 2 year olds – no screen time
2 – 5 year olds – less than 1 hour daily
5 – 18 year olds – less than 2 hours daily
Adults - less than 3 hours daily

Parents must set good examples for children. Kids mirror what their parents do! Mummy knows best so what Mummy does must be right. 

How can Chiropractic Help?
Too many of my younger teenage and adult patients are setting themselves up for a lifetime of irreversible spinal damage from forward head posture causing premature degeneration and arthritic changes from spinal misalignments causing symptoms such as headaches, migraines, forward head carriage, neck pain and upper thoracic nerve compression leading to pain, discomfort and numbness in the arms and hands. Make healthy lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of this damage by getting regular Chiropractic Adjustments from one of our awesome Chiropractors. 

Get Adjusted. 
Stay Informed.
Be Well.

Karen

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