The Importance of Reading - It's actually good for you!

Reading has always been an important part of everyday life, but in recent years studies show that the rate of reading for pleasure is decreasing. This is much more prominent in countries such as Sweden and the Philippines though it is still prominent everywhere else.

Throughout history, men have always become less inclined to read – often saying that they cannot find anything that they like reading about. The divide between men and women has only increased as time has gone by. Men are more likely to want to read comic books or magazines as opposed to full length novels – which contrasts with women’s general interests of getting stuck into a book for a week at a time.

Statistics from surveys taken last year show that during the 2020 lockdown, the overall market of books (both printed and digital) rose quite significantly – though it is speculated this is due to parents buying educational books to progress their child’s learning whilst schools were closed.

However, it is common knowledge that after so many years of being forced to read whilst in education, many children and teens lose interest in doing so for pleasure as they make connections between that and work.

Reading is healthy for the brain, but it is important that you ensure that you don’t do too much of it. It is recommended by health professionals that you should read for 3 hours a day, but never more than an hour in one sitting – the overall limit for the average person is 4 hours. Exceeding these limits can cause eye strain and headaches.

After doing studies on the subject, it is known that the benefit of reading consists of reducing anxiety and stress by slowing you down enough to become relaxed – something that scrolling through social media worsens; expanding the reader’s creativity; expanding the reader’s vocabulary.

When asked older members of the public say that they read for a few hours a week, but they would read more if they had the time to. This strongly indicates that the interest is still there but not being acted upon due to lifestyles becoming more demanding. Whereas members of the younger generation state that as they grow up, they read less as their love for books dies out.

Alternatively, people do spend time scrolling through their social media timelines, reading is still present in day-to-day life – just not in the original form of books. This does mean that people are still being educated but more books are being released every week all while the possible audience stops reading.