Limit Screen Time in Your Home
For Screen Free ideas click HERE
Make Limiting Screen Time a Part of Everyday Life!
- Remove televisions from bedrooms
- Turn off the television during meal times
- Limit your child's screen time to 2 hours or less a day or no screen time during the school week
- Limit your screen time to 2 hours or less a day, be a role model
- Exercise as a family by taking walks, riding bikes, or playing sports or active games together
- Read a book or spend time together as a family by making a healthy meal
- Check out your community's calendar and get involved
- Go to the South Wood County YMCA. To check out what programs or events are happening no, go to www.swcymca.org
- For the Marshfield Area, check out www.mfldymca.org for updated opportunities for physical activity. There is something for everyone in the family!
Why is limiting screen time important?
Screen Time Statistics
- Children ages 8-18 year olds spend an average of 4 ½ hours per day watching television, 1½ hours using computers, and more than an hour playing video games.
- We know that screen time is linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, poor sleep habits , lower reading scores, violent behavior, attention problems and bad habits later in life (like tobacco and alcohol abuse).
- The more time a child spends watching TV, the greater chance he or she has of becoming overweight.
- Overweight children face many health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory (breathing) problems, trouble sleeping, and depression.
- Watching too much TV can not only keeps kids sedentary, but kids also see about 40,000 ads on TV each year, most of which are for candy, cereal and fast food. These ads pressure kids to choose unhealthy foods to eat.
- Health experts recommend limiting screen time to less than 2 hours a day for teens, less than 1 hour a day forchildren ages 3 through 12, and no screen time for children under 3.
More Screen-Free Activities.pdf
Track your Scren-Free Activities log.pdf
National Screen Free Week is Celebrated in 2012 during the week of April 30th - May 6th!
What is Screen-Free Week?
Screen-Free Week is a fun and innovative way to improve children’s well-being by reducing dependence on entertainment screen media, including television, video games, computers, and hand-held devices.
We encourage children to be physically active, but we also encourage children to explore, daydream, read, play and spend more time with family and friends. Screen-Free Week is not just about turning off screens for seven days; it’s a springboard for important lifestyle changes that will improve well-being and quality of life all year round.
Since 1996, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, scout leaders and clergy have helped millions of children turn off screens and turn on life by organizing local Screen-Free Weeks. Screen-Free Week organizers and their teams promote the week, reach out to community partners, get children and families to participate, and help them discover fun screen-free activities. For more information about limiting screen time or for Screen Free Week resources, contact Wood County Health Department at 715.421.8911