Turning Off the Television

I just finished reading an article that relates obesity in children to, among other things, television screen time. Oh no...my family is in trouble! We are definately a t.v. family and have one in almost every room. Family meals have always been important to me and Chris and I made a conscience decision to not include a dvd player in our car because we felt that car trips were time for talking, singing and sight seeing, not being glued to the screen, however at home anything goes. This is a huge problem for us, but I will now be much more vigilant about turning off the t.v. In this article, Television Watching and Frequency of Family Meals are Predictive of Overweight Onset and Persistence in a National Sample of School Aged Children; they reviewed findings from 8,000 children. Results from Gable et al. stated the “changes must occur in family life and children’s’ routines if overweight trends are to reverse direction. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms whereby television, family meals, and parents’ perceptions of neighborhood safety put children at risk for weight problems. A multifaceted, multidisciplinary approach to overweight prevention that involves family life educators and registered dietitians, among others is one place to begin.”

Two weeks from now is "Turn Off the Television Week" (Apr.23-29)and although I know we won't be able to go "cold turkey"...I will certainly be making a bigger effort and hope we all learn new ways to enjoy our free time. If you'd like to read more about this article and get some practical advice for changing screen time in your house, check out this article ---> Combating childhood obesity with less screen time Hutchinson Leader