Childhood obesity is on the rise. Hmmmm….it couldn’t have anything to do with our lifestyle now, could it?

When I walk by a lilac bush the scent reaches out, takes me by the shoulders and marches me right back to childhood. Burning leaves, cut grass, summer rain – they all take me there. Our sense of smell is the most powerful connection that we have to memories and the emotions connected to them.

So, why is it we often associate the scent of nature so powerfully with childhood? That's because it was a time in our lives when we spent hours upon days and years weaving in and out of trees, digging through the dirt, riding bikes and breathing in the wide open air. We ate lunch not because we were necessarily hungry, but because we were told that we had to go in for lunch. When the weather was nice, or not, why would anyone want to be indoors? Outside in the open air, there were no walls or ceilings to close us in – there was freedom to move in any direction. And we did.

Along came the birth of techno toys and mother earth just couldn’t compete. Technology reached its cold, mechanical arms outward pulling the children and teenagers indoors to come and play its games. It mesmerized our youth with flashing lights, beeps, mazes, doorways and the sounds of triumph. Instead of the sun, it left a bluish cast on the face of youth. When kids feel the need for a break, it is the kitchen that they go to - not the open field down the street. Every day, the lull of dying and coming back to life over and over and over draws kids in as they sit on the couch exercising only their thumbs. Outside, more and more sunny days roll by the windows without them.

There was a time when we ran, we hopped, we slid, we jumped; we sweat. Now, with the push of a button, we can make somebody else do it.

Video games are a 17 billion dollar business. Each year, conservatively speaking, sales increase by 43% AND childhood obesity is on the rise. It all screams of a correlation. Are video games an addiction? No. There’s no bio-chemical component involved. Simply put, video games are merely a habit waiting to be broken. Last time I looked at a game console, I swear I saw an “off” button.