Evolution of the eight-year-old.

1969:

" ... (I don't advise hard physical training until your late teens because) every young boy in his normal playing activity goes and goes until he drops, and the added physical build-up is not needed. ... I know that I used to swing so long after school that I always used to get into trouble for being late home for my evening meal, and in the football season I went down to the local park and kicked a football around until after dark."

- Neil Roberts, in Football the Australian Way, edited by John Craven, Lansdowne Press, 1969

2013:

Children as young as eight years are suffering from severe back pain and headaches caused due to over-indulgence in iPads and smart phones. The iGeneration kids now are not only suffering from neck and back pains but also from tendinopathy in wrists and thumbs. The worst affected are children between the age group of 12-16 who are experiencing back injuries typically seen in people over 30, Balwyn Sports & Physiotherapy Centre director Andrew Wynd said. ... According to News (News Ltd), Wynd said the reason is the incorrect posture of children who sit for long hours curled up on a couch or in bed with a laptop or other device that leads to problems in neck and middle-back.

- News item, 26 April 2013