Your Television Shows Are Making You Stupid

There are many studies out now that show participants who watch less television have better memory, are smarter, and weigh less then their couch potato peers. How would the human race or at least the industrialized countries survive with out the media? Would advertisers simply use other methods like investing in advertisements in non-fiction books and gyms across the country? More importantly, what would we look like as a nation if we simply watched less then an hour of television a day?

Experts agree that television gets in the way of us going to sleep at night. Sleep has just been linked to weight loss in children, that by adding just an hour of extra sleep about 30% of them lost weight. It keeps us away from communicating with our families and really spending time with them. Many families sit like zombies around the tube not saying a word to one another for hours on end. I am positive that the majority of parents out there will agree that their family spends an excessive amount of time in front of their new plasma or flat paneled screen. Children and parents suffer from their addiction by letting themselves lose sleep, brain cells and slowly morph us all into the fat Americans that we are today.

Your kids may protest the first couple of months after you set limits on their screen time. Many children sneak around to watch whenever they can if they are denied it. If you find this is happening in your home, you may have to remove the temptation. Talk to them about what they feel is fair and compromise a way for them to pick what shows are important to them. Letting them decide what television shows they would like recorded for another time is the key to cutting the screen time down. Make sure to tell them to fast forward over all of the commercials.

If you want to change your television habits, you can invest in a DVR or unsubscribe from cable, if there is less to watch it should not be on as much. Enroll yourself in a book club at your local bookstore or online at barnesandnoble.com. Find activities for you and the kids outside of the house to help get active you can even consider joining a local YMCA. The YMCA has many sports, clubs and events that every family member can enjoy. The best thing is that the YMCA is pretty inexpensive and they do offer assistance if you cannot afford the full price. They have programs for childcare, swimming, soccer, basketball, camping, adventure guides, community development, fitness classes, and equipment. If you like you could pick up some board games and if you like trivia you are in luck since they can improve your memory. Remember to always spend time together with each other with out letting the dark side of your television shows ruin your life.