In a tech filled culture how do you know if it’s helping or hurting your health? When I work with kids and their families on how to maintain a healthy weight, I find myself coaching parents on healthy boundaries with tech time. I can’t begin to describe the looks of frustration parents give their kids because they know they shouldn’t be staring at screens for as long as they do. Sometimes they make comments like, “See, you aren’t supposed to be on your phone all of the time,” or “I told you!” It grieves my heart for two reasons. One, kids are not learning how to balance their time with movement increasing their risk for obesity and chronic disease. Two, sometimes less apparent, parents are responding as if they have no authority to control the time their kids spend on tech.
The unpopular advice I end up giving is as the parent you control their tech time. What I find makes this difficult is that parents are operating with a lack of information. When they lack info, they are hesitant to set boundaries. They don’t feel confident saying no and drawing boundaries because they are unaware of the risks associated with excessive screen time. Sometimes, they act out of guilt because they also spend too much time on their tablet, phone, or computer. Sometimes they are working a lot and feel powerless to block tech time. Do you find yourself in a similar position? Maybe you struggle with screen time management as well. Whatever the motivating force behind why you struggle to keep healthy screen limits, it is important to know what you are up against.
The Science of it all
In a literature review published in the National Library of Medicine, it is clear that not only can increased screen time result in anxiety in both children and adults, but it increases the risk for weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. Not only can screens be addictive, but the information or what is viewed can negatively impact a person’s outlook on life resulting in behavioral and emotional challenges.
How are screens unhealthy?
As with all things, too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Tech can be helpful in providing entertainment, education, and keeping you connected to friends and loved ones. It provides you quick access to answers when you need them, and it can be helpful in sharing news and information. But how much tech time is too much? Did you know that excessive screen time can result in:
- Tired kids. Exposure to blue light and self-illuminating tech can disrupt a person’s ability to get good sleep. Increasing amounts of literature suggests that blue light can disrupt melatonin production as well as when it’s produced, thus impairing your ability to get good sleep.
- FOMO is real! Fear of missing out can keep people on social media longer than they intend. This results in less time sleeping and more time on screens. Lack of sleep leads to more mood disorders over time if left unmanaged.
- Heart disease. More than 3 hours of screen time has been shown to lower the healthy fat stores in your body in exchange for unhealthy ones. More screen time is associated with less movement and exercise and a lack of diet monitoring (often overeating or snacking on unhealthy foods) leading to increased weight and early onset obesity. The World Health Organization reports that pediatric obesity has increased from 4% to over 18% globally. More important, pediatric obesity increases the risk for premature death and disability as adults. It places them at risk for more fractures, high blood pressure, respiratory problems such as asthma, and diabetes.
- Insulin resistance. Cortisol production is associated with stress. This hormone helps to manage glucose and metabolism. This cycle can become impaired due to stress from not sleeping well, poor quality diet, and excessive multitasking of using tech while trying to do other tasks.
- Depression and anxiety. Children are showing more aggression, inability to control impulsive thoughts, sensation seeking, and are many times not supervised closely by their parents. What is seen on social media, games, and other media platforms can lead to a lower sense of joy and satisfaction in life, poor health quality, and increased stress and anxiety.
The Faith of it all
The bible never tells you what to do about monitoring screen times and how to manage tech time. But it does have a lot to say about how you spend your time and what your heart should be focused on. Psalm 78:58, King David writes that God was angry with the Israelites because of their idols. The bible mentions idols over 200 times in the bible. In all of the stories shared about idolatry, Christians know that it can lead to sin which leads to the inability to hear and connect with God intimately. With today’s distractions, we have plenty of potential idols.
We may not have golden calves placed on an altar, but we can definitely make an idol of tech and all it has to offer. God never intended us to allow our kids or ourselves so much time on screens that we are not serving or being in community with other believers. He desires us to be in fellowship with one another (Galatians 6). More importantly, God has entrusted us with the care of our health, our children’s health, and the care for others. If tech time is getting in the way of that, it is a problem. I know for me, I can easily check out and play app games, scroll social media, and shop online for hours. I have to be careful because I can easily spend too much money, go down the rabbit trail of comparisons with everyone else’s “wonderful experiences,” and I can neglect quality time with family. None if this honors God.
In all honesty, as a Christian it isn’t easy maintaining healthy with boundaries around tech time. There are a lot of personal decisions you have to make because the bible does not give clear direction on this subject. As a parent who monitors tech time, you will have to keep your kids busy with other things; you will likely be the one who needs to engage with them. You will set time limits and have scheduled down time as well as max time limits for games. You may say no a lot, but your kids know it’s important to respect your rules because if they don’t there are consequences (which you need to follow through with). It’s important to set boundaries that support healthy development, but it’s more important to model the same boundaries and follow through with those consequences if they break your rules.
How Do I Manage Tech Time?
Research is clear that you should spend less than 3 hours total on screens to avoid the risk for chronic disease associated with excessive screen time. For some of you, this can be difficult because your job centers around screens. Do not fear, below are 6 practical tips for helping keep tech in check!
#1: Be sure to set up screen time limits. Try to avoid recreational time on phone to no more than 3 hours. If you use screens at work or school, you may opt for less recreational time on your device. Below are links for instructions on how to do this for devices that allow you to do so.
#2: Take regular movement breaks. For every 2 hours of staring at a screen you should rest your eyes and your brain for about 5-10 minutes. Be sure you take your scheduled breaks at work. If you are a student, get up and move every 2 hours for about 5-10 minutes (recess time and going from class to class). For every 2 hours of sitting, you should move for 30 minutes. Children and adolescents should get at least 1 hour of physical activity daily, while adults should do this at least 5 days per week to support a healthy weight.
- For adults: If you work 8 hours at a desk (screen or not) then you should be moving for 2 hours per day (this is step counting but should include moderate to vigorous activity for at least 30 minutes daily). 30-minutes activity supports your current weight. If you need to lose weight, moderate to vigorous activity increases to at least 60-minutes within active movement time.
- For kids: If they are in class 6 hours per day and on their tablets or phones for 3 hours, that is 9 hours of sitting. This means they should be moving for 2.25 hours per day. In that time, at least 1 hour should be moderate to vigorous activity.
- Movement can include doing chores, housework, gardening, practicing a sport, instrument, or some other type of activity. It can also be taking your dogs for a walk, going outside for a breath of fresh air, or whatever gets you moving. Unfortunately, reading is not counted as movement (so when done reading this article, take a movement break).
#3: Use light filters. Remember to wear some type of blue light filter whether a screen guard or glasses to help reduce eye fatigue and reduced melatonin production. At night, use red light filters to reduce the harmful effects of blue lights.
#4: Promote good sleep hygiene. Kids should get 9-11 hours of quality sleep every night. Adults should be getting 6-8 hours of quality sleep every night. Quality sleep is uninterrupted and results in at least 45 minutes of deep sleep. If you have difficulty falling asleep, or your struggle to stay asleep throughout the night, consider creating a sleep routine to help you improve your sleeping environment. If you or your child are already getting the recommended amount of sleep and you still struggle with fatigue, speak with your doctor. Something else may be preventing you from getting adequate rest. To get started with your very own sleep hygiene schedule, take a look at this checklist created by Harvard for adults to guide you on next steps (can be applied to children too, just adjust for age-appropriate needs).
#5: Be in the know. Know what your kids are looking at and who they talk to. Be sure you are encouraging healthy interactions with their peers on games and social media (or opt to not allow social media until they can self-monitor better). Be sure you limit websites you feel can be harmful through screen time restrictions. Check your children’s phones often. Don’t assume they can handle everything themselves. Teens in specific will often keep friend conflicts, relationships, or sometimes their interests personal. Be sure to keep communication open and partner with them in problem solving when conflicts or social issues arise.
#6: Model healthy boundaries. Modeling behavior is just as important as creating boundaries for your kids. You will want to set boundaries that you can adhere to. If you want them to follow your rules, then you must set and communicate what consequences they will experience if they break your rules. Having a healthy relationship with tech time will help you and your kids be more productive, less stressed, happier, more satisfied with your lives, and overall, physically healthy.
In the end, you want to reach and maintain positive health and well-being. By implementing even one of these strategies, you will improve your emotional well-being and overall, your physical health. You will take one step closer to your healthiest you! If you realize this task is just too hard to accomplish on your own, I am here to help. If you want to go deeper with how to live a SpiritFed life and would like to learn biblical principles to health, click here to sign up for your very own discovery call. Learn how I can help you combine the science of weight management and health with biblical principles so that you can live free from diet culture and start living your God-designed healthy lifestyle today.