We can’t help but notice kids younger and younger with a phone in their hands. Not only phones, but tablets with eyes glued to them everywhere they go.
However, even we were shocked when we heard that children under thirteen are twice as likely to know how to take a selfie than to ride a bike.
Another shocker was that children from two to three years old are more likely to have a tablet that a teddy bear. The toy that many of us still remember from our childhood, has been replaced in the hearts of two to three year olds with the touchscreen device.
With 33% of children owning their own tablet at the young age, we were really interested by the rest of the study’s findings.
The survey was carried out in the UK by British Military Fitness and revealed some very eye-opening statistics about young children.
It gets even worse in the older years, with 60% of two to 12-year-olds owning a tablet, but less than 35% having a cuddly toy to sleep with.
It also revealed 40% of under-13, don’t have their own football but do own a games console.
Some other jaw droppers were:
- More than 50% can’t use a skipping rope or climb a tree
- 50% cannot tie their own shoelaces
- But 70% can use a smartphone
The study was used to highlight their campaign to get kids to play outdoors over the Easter holidays. They say on average children will spend six days, eighteen hours and forty minutes staring at a screen over the two week break from school.
Garry Kerr from British Military Fitness was keen to repeat the “enormous emotional, physical and mental health benefits of outdoor exercise, including enhanced mood, improved self-worth and body image, as well as reduced anxiety levels.”
He went on to say that a “simple walk with the dog” can make a huge difference, finishing with a plea to parents this Easter break:
“We want to encourage outdoor fitness from an early age and are urging parents to think of the consequences that almost seven days of online use will have on their children’s health.”
