In this episode of the Upside-Down Parenting Podcast, we uncover the hidden ways screens are shaping your child’s brain, body, and future. As we continue talking to Dr. Bryan Crutcher, we’ll see how many Christian parents focus on spiritual growth—but what about the body? God created kids as whole beings, and movement is essential for learning, emotional health, and growth.
🎧 Listen now and start raising whole, thriving kids for God’s Kingdom!
Episode 37: Summary & Transcript
Disclaimer: Please note that this is an automatically generated transcript. Although the transcription is largely accurate, it may be incomplete or inaccurate in some cases due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.
Episode Summary
This episode is the second conversation with Dr. Bryan Crutcher about raising children to honor God with their whole selves, focusing on the practical aspects of helping kids develop healthy habits and care for their bodies as part of their discipleship. The discussion explores how technology and screen time have changed physical development, with Dr. Crutcher explaining that technology has advanced so quickly that our bodies haven’t been able to adapt to the stressors it places on families and exercise dynamics. He emphasizes the importance of finding balance and moderation with technology use, advocating for parents to encourage outdoor activity and movement.
The conversation includes practical advice for busy parents, suggesting they start with simple activities like walking for 20 minutes, four to five days a week, combined with basic bodyweight exercises. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Crutcher reinforces that physical health is an integral part of spiritual discipleship, as our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that caring for our physical health prepares us to better handle life’s spiritual challenges.
Episode Transcript
Janel Greig (00:00):
Well, welcome back to the Upside Down Parenting Podcast. This is our second conversation about raising kids to honor God with their whole selves with Dr. Bryan Crutcher. In our last episode, we talked about the big picture, why the body matters so deeply in God’s design and why following Jesus isn’t just about the spiritual parts of life. Today, we’re picking up right where we left off, focusing on the practical side, what it actually looks like to help our children develop healthy habits, enjoy movement, and learn to care for their bodies as part of their discipleship. Let’s jump back into the conversation.
Dr. Matt Jones (00:34):
First of all, how has technology and screen time changed the way the body’s developed and moved? I definitely want to have time for this because we really do. We see that a lot. We call one of my nephews the iPad kid because his first word, literally, his first word was iPad. He would go up to his grandpa, iPad. And so that was his first word. And so let’s talk about that one and then maybe we can take a quick segue into our quick questions and then I want to come back to parents. But how has technology and screen time changed the way bodies develop and move?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (01:08):
You know, that’s a great, great question.
Dr. Matt Jones (01:11):
And just remember, this might be a plug for Toy Story 5. So I’m just saying. I don’t know if you’re seeing the trailer yet.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (01:20):
So you mentioned your nephew, that his first word was iPad. So again, let me recall a memory. I don’t have this memory, but I have it because of my mother. She told me my first word was angling. Angling.
Dr. Matt Jones (01:36):
England? Oh, angling. Okay.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (01:37):
And I was like, “Well, what is that?” She goes, “That was you pointing to an airplane.” I was pointing, I was like, “Angling, angling.” That was my first word. But you know why I remember that? Because where did we have to be for me to see that? We were outside. And then I said, “Well, why was it,” I asked her, “why was it like… I could have pointed to anything.” And she’s like, “Because I would take you on walks.”
We were outside all the time. She would take me on walks all the time. And I was just always looking around, but we lived in LA and so planes would be flying over all the time into LAX. And so they would fly a little bit lower so I could see them. And I just started pointing at them. But the fact is that we were outside a lot.
(02:15):
And so I immediately connected to that. Not that your first word has to be something outside, but you get my point. So technology is great. It has advanced so wonderfully, but I think one of the issues is that it has advanced so quickly. And it’s just like when you train. If you train too much, too quickly, the system breaks down, the body system breaks down, and it’s harder for the body to adapt. We have to have a time period where the body can adapt to the new stressors placed on it.
I think technology has grown at such a rate that we have not been able to adapt to the stressors that technology has placed on us, on the family dynamic, on the exercise dynamic. Technology is fantastic. It can help society in so many ways, but at the same time, look at the drawbacks. There are reasons why phone addiction, social media addiction, things are becoming real.
(03:09):
There is a reason why some of the most prominent mental health professionals in the world are sounding the alarm on, when are we going to start to realize that social media is causing significant psychological harm to young people? What was it? Australia just passed a law that you can’t be, what, 16? You have to be over 16 to have social media. It doesn’t mean that we throw out social media, but we have to moderate it.
We have to do better at limiting the place that technology has, just like exercise. Too much exercise is not good. You can get hurt. You get over training, you get stress fractures, all of this, you burn out. So we have to moderate it appropriately. Technology is no different, but we don’t have any limits. It’s everything, screens and phones and computers and this and that. I think it has changed us so much so quickly that we don’t even realize what it’s done.
(04:11):
There are now neuroscientists saying that from an early age, it’s literally remapping the brain to where when the children don’t have their screens, the dopamine response changes and they actually get into a fight or flight state. They get into this fight or flight state and it’s because the brain is adapting from an early age and that’s not a good thing.
But we’re seeing it even in adults that when they don’t have their phone, it’s like they don’t know what to do. They don’t know how to carry on conversations with people because they’re just this all day long. My wife and I comment when we go out to dinner, we have a no phones at the table policy and we comment and we’re like, we look around and there’s just people just this. And I’m like, I don’t think they said a word to each other since they sat down.
(04:57):
And again, that’s not for us to, we’re not judging or anything. We’re just saying like, but is that really what we want to be setting the precedent for? I like talking with my wife. I like having conversations. Same with my students. I teach because I love conversation. I love being able to talk with my students about things. And that’s what I tell them. Yeah, ChatGPT can be helpful, but let me tell you, it’ll spit out some information, but if you don’t know how to talk about that information, you don’t know how to relay that information, it’s not going to go anywhere.
We cannot lose the aspect of the human element of conversation. And I think we’ve done that. I think that’s happening with technology and then it now cascades down. We don’t prioritize communication, which then we don’t prioritize communicating about health and wellness. We don’t prioritize getting outside and communicating how important it is to be outside and to play and to have games and to have fun.
(06:00):
And now we are stuck in this, “Well, this is just how life is.” But why? Just because it is doesn’t mean it should be. I tell that to people all the time. I see some crazy workouts on Instagram and I’m like, “Just because somebody can do it doesn’t mean they should be doing it.” It’s the same thing. Just because you can be on your phone all day doesn’t mean you should be.
And so I’m really trying to figure out how I can encourage my students. Just like, the phones are great. You don’t need to get rid of them. You don’t need to get rid of social media. Just limit it. Just like you don’t need to be in the gym for four hours to get a good workout. But we don’t want too much. We don’t want not enough. We’ve got to find the balance.
(06:44):
We’ve got to find, where is the optimal level? And that might be different for everybody. It’s different for everybody. But to sum it up, it’s like, get off the phone and go outside for a walk and tell me if you don’t feel better. Tell me that 20 minutes in nature with no connectivity to anything, you are not going to feel like, “Oh, I kind of like this. ” I’m willing to bet dollars to donuts that more people than not are going to say, “Thank you for telling me to do that. ” And I have to tell myself to do it too. I’m no exception. I have to tell myself and remind myself to do it as well.
Janel Greig (07:20):
Yeah. Yeah. I think those are all fantastic points, Bryan. And I think they all lead into one another. Too much technology, like you said, isn’t allowing us and our kids to get outside and experience, there’s the physical development that comes from that, but also the things of just the natural inclination or ability to learn to explore and experience what’s out there. It all plays in.
Well, how about a speed round? Are you ready for some quick answer, quick fire? Okay. This is the fun part. This will see how the synopsises are firing. The only rule for this section is quick answers, no long explanations. So it’s quick fire. Yeah. Okay. Coffee or tea?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:01):
Neither. I don’t drink either.
Dr. Matt Jones (08:04):
Yeah, me neither!
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:06):
I don’t drink either. I drink electrolyte water.
Janel Greig (08:09):
I feel like that’s perfectly appropriate.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:11):
Yeah. My wife, though, loves coffee.
Janel Greig (08:15):
All about the coffee. She’s in. She’s in my club.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:17):
So she can be my answer.
Janel Greig (08:18):
Great. Early bird or night owl?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:22):
Definitely a night owl. I’m working on it. I’m trying to go to bed a little earlier, but I think I do some of my best thinking at night.
Janel Greig (08:29):
Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Favorite sport to play?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:36):
I would say track and field. I was a track and field guy. I mean, I played a lot of sports, but I was a sprinter. I love that. I love it. Best of it. I love sprinting.
Janel Greig (08:47):
Okay. Cool. Have you coached track and field then?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (08:51):
Yeah, when I was younger. When I was very, just out of high school in college, I ran my freshman year of college and then I retired. Just injuries and burnout. But then I coached for a few years.
Janel Greig (09:04):
Awesome. Took that love on. Favorite sport to watch?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (09:10):
Oh, it’s so hard. I love all sports. I love all sports. I know that it’s kind of a cop out answer, but I really, honestly, I can find something about every sport. The Olympics are going on. I was watching moguls and I’m like, “This is awesome. This is so cool.” So honestly, I know. I’m sorry.
Janel Greig (09:36):
That’s fair.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (09:37):
I respect any activity, any sport that requires the discipline that these athletes show, I love it all. I will support any athlete in any sport they’re doing. Curling, fascinating. I’m fascinated by curling. I want to do it. I want to do it. I’m fascinated.
Dr. Matt Jones (09:51):
Is that exercise though? Come on.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (09:54):
Oh, it is.
Janel Greig (09:54):
Yes, the arm? Yes.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (09:55):
I’m going to stand up for the curling athlete.
Janel Greig (09:57):
It’s like sweeping.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (09:58):
Absolutely. Absolutely. It is. It is.
Janel Greig (09:59):
Love it.
Dr. Matt Jones (10:01):
I’ve got to ask, is it fun being part of the 12th man down there at A&M?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (10:05):
Gosh, that’s a sport in and of itself.
Dr. Matt Jones (10:08):
Okay.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (10:09):
You don’t sit. You stand and you are there so that when they need us, we are there. And it’s so cool to come down here. And at first it was, wow, they are doing this. Now I get to say we are doing this because my wife and I are in the culture and we have drank the Kool-Aid. We love it. A&M is a very special place. You don’t know it until you’re here. You can’t know it until you experience it. So yes, we love it being a part of the 12th man for sure.
Janel Greig (10:40):
That’s cool. Yeah. Our family was sorry to see A&M not make it further in football. So we were room for you. Next year. Next year. Next year. It’s going to be the year. Next year. All right. Let’s do one more. What’s been your favorite book you’ve read in the last year?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (10:57):
Well, obviously the Bible, as always, but there is a book. I have it here. I actually recommend this for parents.
Janel Greig (11:05):
Awesome.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (11:06):
So I think every parent should read this book. It’s called Spark. And so the full name of it is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey and Eric Hagerman. Perfect. I recommend that every single person and Dr. Jones will show you there. There it is. I recommended this book to him. I read it almost every year, but it is always my favorite book because there is so much you can pull out of this from a physiological standpoint.
But even though this is not a faith-based book, there are so many faith implications that you can tie into this and so much scripture that you can tie into this book. And it’s a fantastic book. So I think all parents should read this book. It will really help with kind of everything we’re talking about.
Dr. Matt Jones (11:59):
He had me drink the Kool-Aid on that book and I read it and it is.
Janel Greig (12:03):
But you’re not an Aggie yet.
Dr. Matt Jones (12:05):
Yeah. I do got to ask though, one of the other questions, sorry, on the speed round.
Janel Greig (12:08):
No, do it, Matt.
Dr. Matt Jones (12:10):
Yeah. Will there be sports in the new heavens and new earth?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (12:14):
I mean, I have to think so because I got to think that God is a sports fan, that he enjoys competition. He likes to see his creation show the absolute phenomenal capabilities of what the human body can accomplish. Why would he make it if there wasn’t this amazing thing that the human body is fascinating? And unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world and there are going to be things that we can’t control, injuries, illness, disease, all these things.
But in the new heaven and new earth, that stuff won’t exist. And so the human body will just be this magnificent creation. And I have to think, God’s going to want to put up a stadium and let us have some fun and just play the sports that we enjoy and never have to worry about injuries. And I’m going to be able to run a two second 100 because I don’t get tired. Let’s do it. That’s awesome. Let’s do it. So yes, I like to think so.
Dr. Matt Jones (13:22):
I had to ask that one. That was a great question.
Janel Greig (13:25):
That’s awesome.
Dr. Matt Jones (13:27):
Absolutely. We have a great producer that I call the Bearded Wonder, and that one he deserves some extra credit for.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (13:34):
Oh, man.
Janel Greig (13:34):
Yeah. When you’re picking teams in heaven, Bryan, who are you going to pick? What Bible character?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (13:39):
Oh, man. Well, I’ve got to think Noah because of his ability to take the instructions and build this arc. I’ve got to think he’s going to be really good at strategizing. That’s awesome. I’m going to take him. And then I’ve got to think Gideon because going through his anxiousness and then God gave him the strength. So I’ve got to think, okay, he’s going to be the guy that’s going to get us all going. He’s going to be the team hype man.
And then I’ve got to think, well, how can you not pick Jesus’s mother? Because I’ve got to think just being able to carry this importance of how God selected her to be. I’ve got to think, man, she is going to be able to just give us the pep talk of pep talks. And then she had to go to Bethlehem riding on the back of a donkey.
(14:39):
And I’m like, man, she’s going to have some really good weight training plans for us to make sure that she knows to get our stamina up. And then at the end, got to go with Paul because I mean, he wrote most of the New Testament and you’ve got to think when he was going to these different cities, he wasn’t like, “Where are the hotels at?” He’s like, “Where are the jails at? Because that’s where I’m going to end up.” So I’ve got to think he knows how to take a bad situation and put a positive on it. So we’re going to be able to have some, so yeah, you can see, I’ve thought deeply about this.
Janel Greig (15:11):
I was going to say, it seems like you thought about that. That’s fantastic. Yeah.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (15:14):
So I think that’s a good team. And obviously there’s many other characters that we could pick, but that would be right off the top of my head because they all have a good contribution to what we want.
Janel Greig (15:28):
That’s great. Well, that might be one of my favorite speed rounds ever. That was fantastic.
Dr. Matt Jones (15:33):
Way to go.
Janel Greig (15:34):
Let’s lean back a little bit into parents with regards to kids and their physical abilities, physical health. What messages, and you alluded to this, but I’d like to elaborate on it more. What messages do kids pick up when parents prioritize the spiritual growth, but are neglecting the physical health?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (15:54):
That’s a really good question. And I think understanding it from both a physiological and a theological side of it, we know that the Bible talks about how working out is good, like physical fitness is good, but it’s not more important than our spiritual growth. But at the same time, the Bible doesn’t negate the importance of physical. So I think we have, again, finding that balance there.
I think if parents are solely focused on the theological aspect of growing, yeah, that’s absolutely great. We for sure need that. But I mean, I communicate with the Lord so well when I am outside and I am on a walk. And this looks different for everybody, but I would be willing to bet because think about what was the first thing that God created was obviously he built the earth, but then he created a garden and he created Adam and Eve to walk in this garden to experience and explore kind of the point that you made earlier about exploring.
(17:02):
And I would like to think that it took physical activity to be able to do that. And so I believe that if we negate the importance of physical health, we are negating the temple of the Holy Spirit that the Bible has told us that is our body. And when we exercise, we set goals. When we exercise, we figure out what are some limits in an appropriate way, but what are some limits I can push past a little bit? Before the limit was a mile. Now I’m going to try to get to a mile and a half.
Again, under appropriate supervision, appropriate training, appropriate progressions, but it allows us to challenge ourselves. The Bible is the single most important piece of literature that has ever existed, and it is the truth. It is the living word of who Jesus is. You don’t think the Bible challenges us in ways that are difficult physiologically and theologically and emotionally and all the different aspects that make up who we are.
(18:03):
So if I need to be the best version of myself to advance the kingdom of heaven, then I need to be able to be emotionally and spiritually on point with what God is teaching me in the word, but also I need to be physically on point because I know in my life when I have come under spiritual just attack or just going through things, it doesn’t just hit me psychologically. It hits me physically. I experience the fatigue. I experience the anxiousness of a spiritual battle that I’m going through. It has physical ramifications.
We saw that with Jesus. Think of the anxiety on the night before he was killed. Think of the anxiety he was going through. It literally says he sweat blood because his human side was experiencing this unbelievable thing he was about to go through and he already knew what he was going to go through, but yet his human side was still responding.
(18:58):
He wasn’t like, “I already know what’s going to happen. It’ll be tough, but I’ll get through it.” No, because he was 100% human along with those 100% divinity. So that tells me anything we experience spiritually, we are going to physically feel it. We are going to physically experience it.
So I want parents to encourage their children that as they go through this life and they’re hopefully growing in the word, growing in the spirit, growing in the pursuit of Jesus and in the pursuit of knowledge of who Jesus is, that you are going to grow spiritually in that, but train your bodies as well to not only be a good representation of the temple of the Holy Spirit, but to physically prepare yourself to overcome challenges that is going to be present in your life, that God is going to walk through with you in your life.
(19:49):
And I think that if you do that, then you are setting yourself up to be a full, complete person because again, let’s take it back to Jesus. He was 100% God and the Bible tells us to pursue to be like Jesus, but also he was 100% man. We have limitations. We have to eat, we have to sleep, we get tired, we get hurt, we get sick.
So we have to train our bodies up to be able to handle those things as best we can so that we can continue to pursue that 100% of who Jesus is in his divine nature so that one day in our glorified form, we are able to spend an eternity with Jesus knowing that we pursued him in the best way that we were able and that his 100% man intercedes for us. And he says, “I know the weaknesses of being human,” but he’s 100% God.
(20:39):
“I overcame those weaknesses. I overcame the world and so will you.” And thus we put ourselves in the best position physically and spiritually and emotionally and all the things to be able to pursue that. That would be my ultimate message of why parents need to encourage their children to be active because I just think it serves such an importance beyond just having fun and all that. Yeah, that’s great. That’s awesome. But absolutely the spiritual growth that you can experience in that is phenomenal.
Dr. Matt Jones (21:10):
I appreciate that. And we’re going to shift gears a little bit because I mean, you have given some great ideas and insights and yet we interact with quite a few parents that say, “Man, I just got way too much going on.” It just feels like it’s unrealistic to take time to exercise. And so for parents who feel exhausted or out of shape or say, “Man, I really don’t have time for this.” What do you think is a realistic place to start?
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (21:37):
Great question. I think a realistic place to start is, obviously you can look into gym memberships or you could do some at home workouts. A really good place to start for, let’s say, parents who have not exercised in what we call a state of de-training, so they haven’t done anything. A great place to start is, go for a walk.
Dr. Matt Jones (21:58):
Go for a walk in your neighborhood.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (22:00):
And start walking consistently. Do a mile a day at a certain pace, and then you can start increasing the pace. Then you can start with some body weights and bands workouts. Start yoga. You can do yoga right in your living room, Pilates, those types of things. And then start strength training because lifting weights is huge. Cardio is fantastic. Do the cardio, but please do not negate strength training.
You must lift weights because it will have such an influence on your cardiovascular health, your metabolic health, the more muscle content you have. We are seeing that the better able your body is to resist disease, to fight cancer, those types of things. There is a very strong correlation between muscle health and longevity, just like there is with cardiovascular. So one is not better than the other. We don’t want to look at it that way. It’s we got to do both.
(22:57):
But if you don’t have the time, you go for a quick walk and do some body weight squats, do some lunges, you can get some bands. You could do a good workout, 20 minutes, four to five days a week. Obviously, eventually I’d like to push you beyond that, but if that’s where you have to start.
Dr. Matt Jones (23:15):
And he would like to push you beyond that. I’m just telling you.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (23:19):
Yeah. But four to five days a week, 20 minutes. Absolutely. There’s some really good resources and I can send you some resources that you could put up on a website or however your listeners are interacting with this podcast to give you some vetted resources where you can read and start and be able to look at, okay, what are some exercises I could do? But if nothing else, just leave the phones and either by yourself or with your kids or with your spouse or whoever, just go for a walk.
(23:56):
And go walk for a mile. And if you have a Apple Watch, track it, just turn the notifications off and just use it as a fitness tracker. Don’t worry about notifications right now. Just do a fitness tracker and just walk or get a Fitbit or whatever, or nothing. Just map out a mile in your neighborhood and just walk up. And so I think that would be a great place to start.
And then I would be happy to send you guys resources that you can send to parents that are vetted resources of where you could start with an actual like, what would a plan look like? What would a three day a week, full body, 20, 30 minute workout look like? That’s great. I think that’s where you start, but just move. Just start moving. Just start moving.
Dr. Matt Jones (24:36):
And I just wanted to attest to that because he did, he provided resources for that and my wife and I, and we do it 20 to 30 minutes a day, four days a week. And it made a huge, huge difference. And for those who say, “Listen, I don’t have time.” I challenge people to pull out your phone and look at your screen time for the past two weeks and 99% of the time that phone says you had time to exercise for not only your health, but also your kids’ health.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (25:09):
The research supports that too.
Dr. Matt Jones (25:09):
Yep. I really appreciate it. I appreciate that and you joining us today. Janel?
Janel Greig (25:14):
Yeah. Yeah. I think we’ll make sure we link those in the show notes and even that book. We’ll put that book. We’ll make sure we get that in the show notes for our listeners. Bryan, thank you so much for your time today. Really, really appreciate it. And I’m sure our listeners gleaned a lot from the content. So fantastic.
Dr. Bryan Crutcher (25:34):
Absolutely.
Janel Greig (25:35):
If there’s one takeaway from today, it’s this. Raising kids to thrive in God’s upside down kingdom is about caring for and nurturing the whole being, including their bodies. As parents, we can model habits, create space for movement and approach physical health in a way that points our kids back to God’s design. A huge thank you to Dr. Crutcher for sharing his insight, experience, and practical wisdom.
Listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with other parents who want to raise whole, healthy kids for God’s kingdom. Until next time, keep looking for those ways to flip the script in parenting, honor God in everyday life. And remember, it’s not just the soul that matters our bodies do too. Thank you, Bryan, and thank you, Matt.