Doctors have been saying it for generations. Stay active, get exercise, it keeps you healthy. And until recently, these admonitions mostly applied to adults, because as we entered maturity we stopped engaging in physical activities and would trot off to the office every day, where we sit behind desks and in chairs. Children were always out playing, running and jumping and being very active.

Except, in the modern world, today’s children are distracted by electronic delights that keep them from engaging in the traditional kid activities that kept previous generations so active. And it’s impacting not just their weight, as the childhood obesity problem continues to grow; it’s affecting children’s physical health as well.

Doctors are starting to get very urgent in their recommendations for parents and anyone who interacts with children to help make sure those kids can detach from electronic screens and engage with physical pursuits. It’s not enough to just monitor what they eat and steer them to healthy meal options; they need to be engaging in physical activity or the problem will persist.

Nearly twenty percent of all children, aged seventeen and younger, in America are obese. The data is alarming to doctors and researchers, and they are looking for ways to reverse this trend before it becomes even worse.