Get out and play

THE EDITOR: Children of TT must not spend more than two hours a day in front of electronic devices and should exercise vigorously at least one hour a day.

Child health experts blame long periods of inaction in front of televisions and computers and less sport and outdoor activity for producing a nation of fat children.

Recent statistics paint a worrying snapshot of the lifestyle of children in TT. Primary children watch an average of more than two hours of television every weekday and between 15 and 20 hours on weekends. The amount of television watched increases as children get older.

It is clear that there is a strong link between watching television and obesity. The only solution for this problem is for parents to simply turn off the television and send the children outside to play.

If you combine television with video games use, tablet use and internet use you get an enormous amount of time on electronic media, which is detrimental to a child’s health and future.

Childhood obesity is now a major concern in TT. Parents must be told to tell their children to “get out and play.”

SIMON WRIGHT
, Chaguanas