Screen Time Reduction

Find Alternatives to “Screen Time”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests no television or video viewing for children under the age of two years. For children over two the recommendation is a limit on TV, videos, computers and video games to two hours or less per day. Ideas for replacing screen time with healthier activities include drawing, reading, nature exploration, conversation, board games, visiting a museum or playing music; there are lots of options, many of which can be done for free.

Thousands of studies support the idea that kids are healthier and better adjusted- and perform better in school- when they don’t spend too much time watching TV or playing video games and computer games, which we call “screen time.

Here are some tips and tools you can use to reduce a child’s screen time:

• Turn off the TV during meals and make it family time
• Know how much screen time and active time your family is getting
• Minimize the influence of the TV, keep TVsand video game consoles out of bedrooms
• Designate certain days of the week as screen-free days
• Set limits on daily TV watching
• Don’t use TV for punishment or a reward
• Create a weekly screen time tracking log

About Screen Time and Weight Gain

• Each hour of TV viewing by school-age kids is associated with 167 additional calories
• Just one hour of TV viewing daily is associated with higher consumption of fast food, sweets, chips, and pizza
• Two or more hours of TV viewing daily is associated with significant likelihood of overweight among 3-year-olds
• Children with TV in their bedrooms snack more than those without

A March 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation Study found “Tweens”, (ages 8-12) see the most food ads on TV, an average of 21 ads a day, or more than 7,600 a year. Teenagers see about 17 a day, for a total of more than 6,000 a year. Of food ads that target children or teens, 34 percent are for candy and snacks, 28 percent are for cereal and 10 percent are for fast foods. Four percent are for dairy products and 1 percent for fruit juices. Of the 8,854 ads reviewed in the study, there were none for fruits or vegetables.

Screen Time and School Performance

• Middle school children who watched more television, movies, and video games did worse in school than those who watched less
• Third graders with a bedroom TV scored seven to nine points lower on standardized tests than those without a bedroom TV

Screen Time and Sleep

• Television viewing among infants and children is associated with irregular sleep schedules.
• Teens watching more than three hours of TV per day are more likely to have sleep problems in early adulthood.

Screen Time and Violence

• Children typically witness 10,000 acts of violence on TV each year
• 61 percent of TV shows include violence
• Heavy TV watching at age 4 correlates with bullying behavior between ages 6 and 11
• Early grade school children exposed to TV violence were more violent adults 15 years later

We recognize that some children need to be indoors for extended amounts of time, whether desirable or not- extreme weather conditions, unsafe neighborhoods, recovering from surgery or other special needs.

If you are able to reduce the amount of time your family spends remember to be patient; it is often easier (and more successful) to make change in small steps through gradual decreases of 10-15 minutes a day.

Screen Time Info Sources

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine
• Developmental Psychology
• Kaiser Family Foundation