Mum reveals son must reach 12,000 steps on treadmill before playing video games

It is not unusual for parents to make children earn screen time by first doing chores or some sort of physical activity.

But a mum in the US has been accused of going too far after posting a video of her son running on a treadmill in order to reach his goal of 12,000 steps a day.

Set to the song Good Day, by Nappy Roots, the four-second video shows a young boy running on a treadmill in the garage. Across the screen she has written "12,000 steps per day to earn video game playtime on the weekend". She posted the video with the comment "Yes, get running in Crocs" and the hashtags #videogames #boymum #workout and #mumlife.

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The video quickly went viral, and has so far racked up more than 718,000 views, 23,000 likes and hundreds of comments, many critical.

"Yeah I'm sure this kid won't have ANY issues as an adult …," one wrote, while another said: "Seems extreme".

Some said the child would need therapy when he grew up, while one suggested it could cause body issues. Others asked the mother what she did to earn downtime. "How many steps do you have to do to earn TikTok?" one asked.

Others even took aim at his choice of footwear, urging his mum to make him wear sneakers instead of Crocs.

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But many others praised the mum. "As an elementary PE teacher you have no idea how many kids are so unhealthy ... kudos to this parent!" one wrote, while another said "This will not hurt kids. He is EARNING his video games. We mowed lawns and babysat. Same thing. Jeez". And another: "So the parents who are criticising this are the parents who let TV and video games babysit their kids for them".

"This is good parenting. Accountability and prioritising healthy habits from an early age. Ignore the hateful comments," urged another.

The woman eventually responded to her critics, writing: "For everyone freaking out, he doesn't run on the treadmill every day. My kids can get their steps any way they want. They also don't have to get them if they don't care to play their video games. They can make choices. My son came in after I finished running and asked if he could hop on."

To another commenter she wrote: "I don't force him on the treadmill, but yes, if he wants to play video games he has to be active".

The mum-of-four's TikTok account @themarianfam, documents the lives of herself and her husband as they raise four boys. The self-described "lovers of old school hip-hop" enjoy traveling the world, and most of their videos receive a small number of views.

A video posted late last year was captioned "What it is like having four boys" and shows them laughing, running, playing, roughhousing and just being boys, which she uploaded with the comment "They make life fun, and I wouldn't change it for the world" and the hashtags #boymom #largefamily and #momlife.