The Times
Greg Hurst Social Affairs Editor
Gerry Gajadharsingh writes:
Several years ago, I was asked to give an opinion on 2 children who were having a series of health challenges. I went through their daily routines from getting up to going to bed, there was so much packed into their day, before and after school and at weekends, that I got a headache listening to it all. Their mother spoke at a million miles an hour and her children had routines that matched. There wasn’t much to find clinically, and I ventured the suggestion that perhaps the children very doing too much, and they needed more down time and time to play. The mother said, “but I want the best for my children and they love doing so much”. She asked for 1 second opinion and I referred her to another colleague who came to similar conclusions as me. Not willing to listen I am sure she went onto another clinician.
When I first qualified, 31 years ago, I rarely saw children, now it is very common and most of them have stress related symptoms. I am sure part of it is diet, but a lot of it is over stimulation and often poor-quality sleep. IT gadgets have a big part to play but the research below picks up on the number of after school activities that many children now do and the negative effect it is having on them and their family unit.
Life now seems to be so busy, it seems that our children are following our patterns, to the detriment of their health and ours.
Middle-class parents often usher their children from one after-school activity to the next, telling themselves that the stress is outweighed by the opportunities they are giving their offspring.
It could be doing their children, and their marriage, more harm than good, however. The authors of a study say that signing up to too many extra-curricular activities can exhaust children and put pressure on family life, particularly in households with more than one child.
Academics interviewed 48 families with children at 12 primary schools in northwest England about their use of after-school clubs. They were all middle-class families with children aged between nine and 11: all their fathers and ten of the mothers worked full time, with 27 mothers working part time.
Their children’s activities included piano, violin and guitar lessons, the scouts, chess, art, athletics, rugby, horse riding, cricket and a church group.
The study, published in the European Physical Education Review, found that 88 of the children had activities on four or five days a week and 58 per cent did two or more on at least one day a week.
Many parents admitted that the activities sometimes left their children exhausted and that the time and expense involved could lead to family tension but said they felt under pressure to emulate other middle-class families.
Sharon Wheeler, a lecturer at Edge Hill University and the lead author, said: “There is evidence that parents’ reserves of time, money and energy are often considerably depleted, and marriages can be put at risk due to the demands of supporting their children’s participation. It is also apparent some children might have limited opportunities for free play and to manage their own time, which are important for healthy development.”