Children nowadays watch significantly more television than those in the past, which reduces their activity levels accordingly. Why is this the case? What measures can you suggest to encourage higher levels of activity among children?

Growing number of children are addicted to TV programs, thus they spend less and less time on physical activities, therefore it can have a negative effect on children’s development. There seem to be two main causes involved and several solutions. Firstly, it is obvious that Tv provides children with great volume of enchantment. With the emergence of various educational and entertainment channels and programs, children became more addicted to TV, as it is more challenging for them to take their eyes from the screen. For instance, compared to the past, now there are more and more channels that play cartoons all day long, which causes addictiveness. Secondly, with the decline in outside leisure activities and playground areas and increase in popularity of technology such as televisions, many children prefer to stay at home and spend time in front of the screen, instead of playing and exercising in fresh air/ Turning to possible solutions, I think it would be useful to see the joint initiative between parents and authorities. First, constructing playgrounds and outside entertainment areas will be an effective start in attracting the attention of younger generation to spend time outside. Moreover, parents play an essential role in assisting youngsters to get rid of their addiction, by motivating them to participate in sports and exercices, such as football or tennis. In addition, demonstrating to children the negative effect of constant sitting over television can also be an effective remedy. Overall, lack of children playground areas and wide range of channels are the key factors behind this trend. The possible remedies may include increasing the amount of recreation parks and raise children’s awareness of risks of their addiction.