As a direct antidote to this post, there is new hope in the fight against childhood obesity. In parenting, nothing is black and white all over but varying shades of grey. Video games are not necessarily the antichrist.
According to a study published in Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and reported in Science Daily, the key is the kind of video games that are being played. So-called active video gaming, which includes dancing and boxing, have all the benefits of physical activity—i.e., increased heart rate, oxygen uptake, and energy expenditure.
While traditional sedentary video games are linked to obesity, systems like the Wii encourage movement and physical fitness.
Researchers at the University of Chester in England studied the physiologic responses and energy expenditure of 11- to 15-year-old children playing games that do not require a game controller. Though the sample was small (only 18 children were involved), the authors found notable increases in heart rate, oxygen uptake and energy expenditure while the kids played Dance Central and Kinect Sports Boxing.
"Although it is unlikely that active video game play can single-handedly provide the recommended amount of physical activity for children or expend the number of calories required to prevent or reverse the obesity epidemic, it appears from the results of this study that Kinect active game play can contribute to children's physical activity levels and energy expenditure, at least in the short term," concluded the study's authors.
So if your kids are begging for screen time, why not indulge them in active gaming? There are certainly worse ways to spend a rainy day...
These days a cellphone is the modern equivalent of an extra appendage for many of us. Even though the technology is now such an integral part of our everyday lives, when it comes to cell phone etiquette, we're still a little hazy on what is and isn't socially acceptable.
According to an article in the UK Sun, of the 2,000 Britons surveyed in a recent poll by UK mobile phone provider, Vodafone, half deem it fine to take a call during a wedding, and a third wouldn't have a problem answering their cell phone during sex. (Says a lot about the quality of the love and the lover, no?)
More than half (54 per cent) wouldn't hesitate to pick up the phone during dinner, and an even greater number (57 per cent) would accept an incoming call whilst in the toilet. Eew. Small comfort, I know, but more men than women do this.
Eight out of ten people have numbers on their contacts that they have no intention of ever calling. And the fine irony in all this: 40 per cent of those surveyed felt that the art of conversation was dying, with 21 per cent of people blaming social media and text messaging for its demise.
Are there hard and fast rules when it comes to answering a call on your cell? Is it a case of across-the-board common sense, or do different terms apply to different generations and cultures?
Are there times when you absolutely refuse to answer your cell?
Ridiculous, but apparently true. According to an article in the BBC, a Hong Kong tycoon is offering $65m to the Prince Charming who can 'convert' his lesbian daughter, who recently married her long-term girlfriend.
No, it's not some bad modern day fairy tale. But the promise of a marriage bounty this big is likely to draw all kinds of punters and Don Juan types.
Though property and shipping billionaire Cecil Chao is himself a bachelor, he's convinced all his daughter Gigi needs is a "good husband" to sort her out.
Since same-sex marriage isn't legal or recognized in Hong Kong (where homosexuality was only decriminalized in 1991), Gigi Chao married her partner, Sean Eav, in France.
Apparently businesswoman and University grad Gigi isn't taking her father's bounty at all seriously. For now.
"I don't mind whether he is rich or poor," Mr Chao said of the potential suitor. "The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted. Gigi is a very good woman with both talents and looks. She is devoted to her parents, is generous and does volunteer work."
Though Mr Chao claims he won't force his daughter to "marry a man against her will," isn't it bad enough that he wants to change who she is at some fundamental level?
I can only cringe to imagine the long line of men thinking they are demi-god enough to convert a natural born lesbian... So much for progress.
Kama dawa ya moja kwa moja ya chapisho hili, kuna matumaini mapya katika mapambano dhidi ya unene wa watoto. Katika kuwa mzazi, hakuna kitu nyeusi na nyeupe kila mahali ila ni rangi tofauti-tofauti za kijivu. Michezo ya video si lazima iwe ni mpinga-Kristo. Kulingana na utafiti uliochapishwa katika jarida la Online First na Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine na kuandikwa katika gazeti la Science Daily, jambo kuu ni aina ya michezo ya video inayopigwa. Vichezo vya video vinavyoitwa vya kazi, ambavyo vinatia ndani kucheza dansi na ndondi, vina faida zote za shughuli za kimwili - yaani, kuongezeka kwa kiwango cha moyo, matumizi ya oksijeni, na matumizi ya nishati. Wakati michezo ya video ya jadi ya kukaa imeunganishwa na unene wa mwili, mifumo kama Wii inahimiza harakati na mazoezi ya mwili. Watafiti wa Chuo Kikuu cha Chester nchini Uingereza wamechunguza jinsi watoto wenye umri wa miaka 11 hadi 15 wanavyofanya mazoezi ya kuogelea bila kutumia kifaa cha kuongoza. Ingawa sampuli ilikuwa ndogo (watoto 18 tu walihusika), waandishi walipata ongezeko la kasi ya moyo, matumizi ya oksijeni na matumizi ya nishati wakati watoto walicheza Dance Central na Kinect Sports Boxing. "Hata ingawa ni vigumu kwamba kucheza michezo ya video inaweza kutoa kiasi cha kupendekezwa cha shughuli za kimwili kwa watoto au kutumia idadi ya kalori zinazohitajika kuzuia au kugeuza janga la unene, matokeo ya utafiti huu yanaonekana kuwa kucheza michezo ya Kinect inaweza kuchangia viwango vya shughuli za kimwili na matumizi ya nishati ya watoto, angalau kwa muda mfupi. """ Ikiwa watoto wako wanahitaji muda wa kutumia kompyuta, kwa nini usiwape wakati wa kucheza? Kwa hakika kuna njia mbaya zaidi za kutumia siku ya mvua... Siku hizi simu ya mkononi ni sawa na kifaa cha ziada kwa wengi wetu. Ingawa teknolojia ni sehemu muhimu ya maisha yetu ya kila siku, bado tuna wasiwasi juu ya nini ni na nini si kibali cha kijamii. Kulingana na utafiti uliofanywa na kampuni ya simu ya mkononi ya Uingereza, Vodafone, nusu ya watu 2,000 nchini Uingereza wanaona ni sawa kuchukua simu wakati wa harusi, na theluthi moja hawana shida kujibu simu zao wakati wa ngono. (Inasema mengi kuhusu ubora wa upendo na mpenzi, sivyo?) Zaidi ya nusu (54%) hawangesita kuchukua simu wakati wa chakula cha jioni, na idadi kubwa zaidi (57%) ingekubali simu inayoingia wakati wa kuogelea. Eew. Ni faraja ndogo, najua, lakini wanaume wengi zaidi kuliko wanawake hufanya hivyo. Watu 8 kati ya 10 wana namba za simu ambazo hawajawahi kuzitumia. "Hii ni kwa sababu asilimia 40 ya watu waliohojiwa wanaamini kuwa ""sanaa ya mazungumzo"" inakufa, na asilimia 21 ya watu wanalaumu mitandao ya kijamii na ujumbe wa maandishi kwa kifo chake." Je, kuna sheria za kawaida zinazohusu kujibu simu? Je, ni jambo la akili ya kawaida, au maneno tofauti-tofauti yanatumika kwa vizazi na tamaduni tofauti-tofauti? Je, kuna wakati ambapo unakataa kabisa kujibu simu yako ya mkononi? Ni jambo lisilo la akili, lakini inaonekana ni kweli. Mtaalamu wa biashara wa Hong Kong ametoa zawadi ya dola milioni 65 kwa Prince Charming ambaye ataweza kumgeuza binti yake kuwa msagaji wa jinsia moja, ambaye hivi karibuni ameolewa na mpenzi wake wa muda mrefu. La, si hadithi mbaya ya kisasa ya hadithi. Lakini ahadi ya zawadi ya ndoa kubwa kama hii ni uwezekano wa kuvutia aina zote za punters na aina Don Juan. Ingawa mmiliki wa mali isiyohamishika na mabilionea wa usafirishaji Cecil Chao ni mseja mwenyewe, anaamini kuwa binti yake Gigi anahitaji tu "mume mzuri" kumsaidia. Kwa kuwa ndoa za jinsia moja hazikubaliwi na sheria nchini Hong Kong, Gigi alioa mwenzi wake, Sean Eves, nchini Ufaransa. Inaonekana mwanamke wa biashara na chuo kikuu grad Gigi si kuchukua zawadi ya baba yake wakati wote kwa uzito. Kwa sasa. "Sijali kama yeye ni tajiri au maskini", Bwana Chao alisema juu ya mwenzi wa uwezekano. "Kitu muhimu ni kwamba yeye ni mkarimu na mwenye fadhili. Gigi ni mwanamke mzuri sana mwenye vipaji na sura nzuri. Yeye ni mwenye kujitoa kwa wazazi wake, ni mkarimu na hufanya kazi ya kujitolea". "Hata ingawa Chao anasema hatamlazimisha binti yake ""kuoa mtu dhidi ya mapenzi yake,"" je, si mbaya kutosha kwamba anataka kubadilisha yeye ni nani katika ngazi fulani ya msingi?" Ninaweza tu cringe kufikiria mstari mrefu wa wanaume kufikiri wao ni nusu-mungu kutosha kugeuza asili kuzaliwa wasagaji... Huo ndio maendeleo.