How Can Parents Teach Kids Healthier Gaming Habits?

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While there’s a lot of video games out there to play with your kids, those are usually one of the only times you can see and probably monitor how your kid sits, their posture, and overall, their choices and reactions around gaming. Besides, a lot of parents have probably seen the same thing: a kid sits down to play for a little while, gets completely locked in, and before long, they’re folded over like a pretzel, squinting at a screen, ignoring hunger, and acting like standing up for two minutes would personally ruin the entire game. 

Chances are, you were literally no different when you were a child. And sure, that’s usually how it starts. Gaming itself isn’t the problem, of course, but the habits around it can get rough pretty fast if nobody’s paying attention. As you know, it doesn’t take much to create a habit, but it takes a while to stop it, especially if you’ve never originally noticed these habits before. 

So, what should parents keep in mind, and how can they help their kids become a bit more mindful of their health habits while gaming?

It’s All About Normalizing Stretching

At least when it comes to school and exercise, kids at least know to stretch. During standardized testing weeks, kids know to do it. But that’s about as far as it all goes, though. So, it’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s about creating a habit out of it. So a quick stretch for the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and neck before or after a gaming session can do a lot, especially when they’re gripping a controller or sitting at a desk for long stretches.

It doesn’t need to turn into some whole routine with a yoga mat and a life lesson attached to it. There’s plenty of gamer-focused stretches online, so you can pick one for them to do so they can hopefully get into the habit of it, and join in, so it doesn’t feel like a lecture for them.

Just Make Posture and Setup Part of the Conversation

Now, this is absolutely a big one that definitely needs some attention here. So, a lot of kids will sit on the couch twisted sideways, perch on the foot of the bed, or slump in some poor desk chair that’s doing absolutely nothing for them. It’s common, and again, maybe you did this too as a kid. But of course, you know about all the aches and pains that create here. 

So, they need to understand how important posture is. And that can mean talking about sitting back properly, keeping the screen at a better height, and choosing gear that supports them instead of making everything worse. Sure, it can be hard to instil that in a kid who’s not in any physical discomfort. But for parents looking for a useful gift, ergonomic gaming chairs can be a smart option, since this is way better than a standard desk chair or them sitting on a bed. You could even get a wrist pillow and an ergonomic mouse for them, too. 

But of course, they need to understand the importance of good posture first (all the best ergonomic furniture in the world doesn’t fix someone intentionally having bad posture. 

Don’t Let Gaming Turn into a Junk Food Routine

There’s that meme about Mountain Dew and Doritos, but to a degree here, it does hold true. You don’t really picture gamers (kids included) munching on carrot sticks and celery while playing games. But keeping water nearby, having better snacks around, and reminding kids to actually eat real meals helps a lot. And it can help to not have junk food in the house, too.