So you forked over big bucks for the latest ergonomic, all-terrain, luxury-sedan of a stroller – and now you want to get your money's worth, right?
Big mistake, say two British politicians. Anne Milton, Britain's minister of public health, and Nickie Aiken, a councillor for the city of Westminster, are calling on parents to stash those fancy toddler-wheels away in the garage, and rescue their toddlers from future obesity, but making them, well, toddle.
As Ms. Aiken told the British press, parents who rely too much on strollers to get their kids from one place to another are risking their long-term health.
"I get frustrated when I see children as old as five in a buggy. We should start to stop using the buggy as much as we can from age three," Ms. Aiken said.
Ms. Milton, a former nurse, has been outspoken on this issue before, as the Telegraph pointed out. Last year, she suggested doctors start bluntly telling their patients they were "fat" because it would have more "impact" than the word obese.
Their comments come after a report in July, recommended that children under five get three hours exercise a day. Only a third get that much, according to the Telegraph. Similar studies in Canada have found the same decline in physical activity among children and youth.
Both Ms. Milton and Ms. Aiken are moms themselves. In fact, Ms. Aiken has two young kids, so she probably understands it's not always easy running errands with a toddler. But parents here might suggest she try walking her 3-year-old down a sidewalk to daycare during a Canadian winter, when you actually have to get to work on time.
That said, it can't be any harder than pushing even a $1,500 stroller through a snow bank.
Do you think kids spend too much time in strollers?
Erin Anderssen