It can be shocking the amount of time kids and even adults spend indoors and inactive. Times have changed from the days of working in the warm sunlight to turning into another decoration inside your home.
Sitting inside your home watching TV, playing video games, or sitting at your computer have become such a normal part of people's lives today. The general public would not find it unusual to see kids stay indoors when the weather outside is what one would describe as "perfect."
Now, why is it that we all prefer the comfort of our own homes compared to a healthy dose of vitamin D?
In the past, people would find it strange to see no one outside in the beneficial, warm weather. Going back even farther to the 1920s and 1930s, people would spend around a third of their day outside. It's true that more jobs were conducted outdoors other than the desks we sit at today. As for transportation, we ride inside a car, bus, train, or airplane. In the past most would just walk if it was within a reasonable distance.
So why is it that we went from spending a third of our day outside to maybe a few minutes here and there? Of course there are exceptions, such as those who prefer to breathe the fresh air and occupy themselves with gardening or hiking (they have found a way to enjoy the outside, basically).
Can we blame this on addicting new technology? Or is the ever-shorter attention spans in children today to blame? It certainly couldn't be the choice to lead more private lives, because look an sites like Facebook, which publicize almost anything about you personally. So why the aversion to fresh air?
The answer to this could be broken down simply to laziness or exhaustion. It may just be easier to watch mind-numbing television than taking a walk outside and occupying not just your body but your mind. More jobs that demand to be done now have us dreaming of sleep or simply laying down when you get home, which dispels any ideas we may have of going outside.
Culturally we have become quite different from our ancestors. They would most likely scoff at the notion of going inside to get a tan when it's free and rarely in short supply outdoors. I realize we do live in northern Minnesota, but doesn't that mean that we should take advantage of the warm weather when we do finally get it?
Time is also another acceptable excuse for those with demanding schedules, but it's not like there was much time to play back then; in fact today people vacation and "play" more.
So basically what I am trying to say is that you should make time.
Is the change from outdoors to indoors bad? You certainly need fresh air and vitamin D, but is it life threatening to lack in those two departments? A quick glance at the people who cross our paths these days should provide the answer to that question.
