Tiny Tim is remembered as the small, harmless child from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Debilitated by rickets, this child was the physical embodiment of the downtrodden underclass of Victorian society.
But like many Victorian maladies, rickets is viewed as a vestige of a bygone era — it is a problem we think we no longer have to face.
On the contrary, rickets is finding its way back into modern society, causing frustration and astonishment once again in the medical community.
Caused by a vitamin D deficiency, rickets is a disorder that leads to the softening of the bones in developing children, which causes the trademark deformity of a rickets patient’s body.
Unlike most vitamins, the bulk of our vitamin D is synthesized through exposure to sunlight, and physicians are already drawing connections between the resurgence of rickets and lack of outdoor activity.
In the United Kingdom, where this disease is becoming a pressing issue, scientists have found dozens of children with signs of rickets.
While the United States may not be as historically lacking in sunlight as the United Kingdom, physicians are still concerned that we may soon experience rickets here in the U.S.
Rightfully so, health departments in both countries are set to address such issues by educating parents and children about the need for outdoor activity and vitamin D supplementation.
However, I feel as though some may use this unsettling situation to push an agenda that has often been peddled in the past.
The concerned “do-gooders” of America are always ripe and ready to use authentic science to lambast elements of society that cater to indoor activity — video games, Internet and television.
Newspapers such as the United Kingdom’s Metro published sensational headlines claiming “video games and social networking sites have been blamed for a shocking rise in cases of rickets in children.”
This claim was later found to be the result of a poor interpretation of a quote by a Newcastle University senior lecturer.
In fact, the Internet is rife with studies, articles and videos dedicated toward weaning us off digital entertainment, and they are all dead set on telling you that strokes, diabetes and obesity are the result of spending too much time on Facebook.
Arla Foods, a Swedish-Danish dairy producer, recently released a study that found spending all day “stuck in front of a box or on computer games” contributed to children not understanding simple concepts, such as the difference between wasps and bees.
It may be true we are spending on average more time indoors because of digital media, but does this necessarily mean our newfound hobbies need to be done away with?
Electronic media is still a driving force for good in society, but it is also shaping our experiences as both children and adults.
Undeniably, outdoor activities are becoming less attractive to new generations.
Despite this, there is no valid reason to demonize electronic media or label it as something intrinsically harmful.
Therefore, it is our responsibility to counter any health issues that may evolve from our increased technological dependence with realistic, logical answers, rather than the creation of scapegoats.
Instead of shoving our kids outdoors with the hopes that something productive will occur, we might find that true solutions lie in our ability to moderate what we do.
Our nation is enveloped in the Information Age and is experiencing trends in digital entertainment and media that most likely will not be curbed. We can use this as an opportunity to highlight the important roles nutrition, exercise and outdoor activity play in our lives.
Taking such messages and warping them into an agenda that aims to denigrate electronic media and recreation will only serve to cause more frustration and confusion in our society.
 
Chris Freyder is a 21-year-old biological sciences junior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter
@TDR_Cfreyder.
 
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Contact Chris Freyder at
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