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Apocalypse of a Healthy Lifestyle

From 1946 to 1951 the number of televisions in homes grew from 6,000 to 12 million. Today there are on average 2.5 televisions in homes across America. Technology continued its march into our homes and our lives in the form of computers, laptops, internet, WI-FI, tablets, smart phones, smart TV’s, streaming services, and endless social media content. Couple that with ready-to-eat meals like TV dinners, fast food delivered by Door Dash or GrubHub, and cookies, candies, and cakes. We begin to realize we are smack dab in the middle of a “Healthy Lifestyle apocalypse.”

Research conducted at Harvard first linked TV watching to obesity more than 25 years ago. Read that again: 25 years ago. Since then we have increased the number of screens into our daily lives. Research also shows that while 63 percent of consumers believe that eating at home with their families is important, only 30 percent actually share dinner every night. Those numbers come from a September report published by the Food Marketing Institute Foundation.

Screen time effects our diet and life style multiple ways. It displaces our time for physical activity, promotes poor diets via ads, and gives more opportunities for unhealthy snacking and overeating. It even effects our sleep patterns.

I used to think family meals were reserved for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. Those kind of moments only happened if extended family was in town. I grew up the same as many, dinner plate on the coffee table and eyes glued to the TV, seemingly unaware that there was big button on the remote labeled POWER. The best thing we can do for ourselves and our children is push that big button, turn off the TV, set the table, and meet with one another.

It is the year 2021 and we just rolled through a year where our lives were fully mediated by screens. They were before and they definitely are now. The time is now to think about what a healthy, but technologically plugged-in life could look like.

• Making screen time recreational and not habitual. • Enjoy electronics-free meals. • Involve yourself in face-to-face socialization. • Cook and prepare food together, instead of choosing delivery.

If “boredom” from a lack of tech-stimulation begins to set in, I encourage you, make every effort to continue to limit screen time to less-thantwo-hours. Remove TV and media from the bedrooms. Save TV time for the weekend. Find a new hobby, go outside get some sunshine, draw pictures, play games, sit and talk with an old friend or make new friend, take off the head phones turn up the music and dance. Make the cognitive choice to do something other than pacify time with pixelated entertainment. It will help create a healthier and happier you!