Combating the Sedentary Nature of Screentime
As a parent, uncle, aunt, or friend, we’ve all come face to face with the problem of kids spending way too much time on their screens–whether it's gaming, Snapchat, or scrolling endlessly through TikTok. The average American teenager averages 7 hours and 16 minutes of screen time per day, according to a 2023 survey by Comparitech and Common Sense Media. Kids from lower-income homes spend an alarming average of 9 hours and 19 minutes per day on their screens. When you combine sitting for this length of time with sugary drinks and high-fat, high-carb snacks–you have a recipe for a Generation Z health disaster. So what is to be done?
If you have the time and energy to take the fight and be a hands-on adult that keeps a kid’s screen time down to 1-2 hours per day, God Bless you. It’s not easy. But let’s be honest–glancing at the statistics that were quoted earlier–this isn’t happening very much of the time. Perhaps there is another approach that allows kids the freedom to do the things they love, while keeping their bodies healthy and strong.
The Coffee Talkers Guide to Combating the Sedentary Nature of Screen Time
You may have guessed it–but this is the “Kids do what you do, not what you say” part–the adults have to lead the way. You’re in charge of setting up the deal to move every hour and making sure it gets done. When you’re in the same place, you join in.
The price of every hour of gaming or screentime is a microworkout. Microworkouts are short, 5-minute workouts where the idea is to gather easy reps of movement–there’s no heavy effort or going to failure.
The daily structure could look something like: Day 1–Bodyweight squats, Day 2–Push-ups, Day 3–Some kind of rowing or pull-ups, Day 4–Planks, Day 5–Jumping rope or running in place. As far as reps are concerned–again–you want them to be easy reps that you are gathering every hour–so fatigue and burnout are not a factor.
These microworkouts can be supervised in person, or you can set up a fun system of FaceTiming every hour and doing the exercises together from different locations. It’s also a great excuse to keep tabs on what your kids are doing when you’re not there.
A Note About Nutrition
Junk food snacks are a big part of the problem for kids that are sedentary for hours and hours. In our experience (with three kids each) kids will eat better snacks if there is a platter out when they arrive home from school. Hummus and veggies, small sandwiches, and fruits with a pitcher of water are all infinitely better than chips and a soda. Yes, it’s some extra work for the adults, but it’s well worth the effort in the long run. These kids need our help.
Until next time,
Scott and Lennart