Fact #1:     Obesity is a growing epidemic among children

Fact #2:     Children watch about four hours of TV per day, plus computers and video games.

Fact #3:     The more TV children (or adults) watch the more likely they are to be obese.

TURN OFF THE TV and tell your children to:

It is a simple solution to a pressing problem. "Go Outside and Play" is not based on any new study. The facts are already there. It only takes a little common sense to put them together.

Turn off the TV and send your children outside to play for fun, exercise, friendships, fresh air, and sunshine. Let them play for an hour every day or more. Soon, you will have trouble getting your happy children back indoors.

You'll probably want to join them and have some quality (and fun!) family time too. The more your children GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY the more likely outdoor activity will develop into a lifelong habit--with lifelong benefits.

For maximum benefits get the TV-FREE System

The more you can cut your child's TV watching, the more likely your child will be happy, healthy, and fit. The TV-FREE System helps you and your famiy cut back TV watching to neglible amounts (but you may customize it to meet your own family's needs) and substitutes that time with healthier activities of your choice.

My family is ready to be TV-FREE

For more ideas for adults and weight loss, see the TV and Weight Loss Solutions for adults

Suggestions for Outdoor Activities:

A closer look at the facts.

Fact #1: Obesity is a growing epidemic among children

Government documents paint a grim picture that is only getting getting worse.

*In 1999, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades.
*Risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, occur with increased frequency in overweight children and adolescents compared to children with a healthy weight.
*Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children and adolescents.
*Overweight and obesity are closely linked to type 2 diabetes.
*Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. Overweight or obese adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.

Fact#2: Children watch about four hours of TV per day, plus computers and video games.

There have been many studies done concerning TV watching. The most common statistic cited is 4 hours per day. The average person watches 4 hours per day, or 2 solid months out of every year. That is a lot. The most recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation confirmed this. The KFF study examined various forms of media use among kids ages 8-18, including TV, computer, video games, music, and reading. The statistics from this study are a little complicated because the study examined so much. The main finding was that children were were exposed to a total of over eight hours of media daily. However, due to multi-tasking the total time devoted to media use was 6 hours and 20 minutes every day. That is astonishing. That is more time than children spend in school. The time for screen media--TV, computers, and video games--breaks down as follows:

It's fairly logical that TV would be related to obesity. First, just about any other activity burns more calories than TV. Plus, TVs broadcast commercials for unhealthy junk food. To top that off, people often snack while watching TV. But here are a few studies which confirm the obvious:

Jago R, Baranowski T, Baranowski JC, Thompson D, Greaves KA. "BMI from 3-6 y of age is predicted by TV viewing and physical activity, not diet." Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2005 Jun;29(6):557-64.

"CONCLUSION:Physical activity and TV viewing were the only significant predictors (other than baseline BMI) of BMI among a triethnic cohort of 3-4-y-old children followed for 3 y with both physical activity (negatively associated) and TV viewing (positively associated) becoming stronger predictors as the children aged. It appears that 6 or 7 y is a critical age when TV viewing and physical activity may affect BMI. Therefore, focusing on reducing time spent watching television and increasing time spent in physical activity may be successful means of preventing obesity among this age group."

Ross E. Andersen, PhD; Carlos J. Crespo, DrPH, MS; Susan J. Bartlett, PhD; Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD; Michael Pratt, MD, MPH. "Relationship of Physical Activity and Television Watching With Body Weight and Level of Fatness Among Children." JAMA. 1998;279:938-942.

"Between 1988 and 1994, 4063 children aged 8 through 16 years were examined as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III."... "Boys and girls who watch 4 or more hours of television each day had greater body fat (P<.001) and had a greater body mass index (P<.001) than those who watched less than 2 hours per day."

Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH “Does Television Cause Childhood Obesity?” JAMA. 1998; 279: 959-960.

Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH “Reducing Children's Television Viewing to Prevent Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” JAMA, Oct 1999; 282: 1561 - 1567.

"Intervention Children in 1 elementary school received an 18-lesson, 6-month classroom curriculum to reduce television, videotape, and video game use."
"Compared with controls, children in the intervention group had statistically significant relative decreases in body mass index ..., triceps skinfold thickness ..., waist circumference ..., and waist-to-hip ratio.... Relative to controls, intervention group changes were accompanied by statistically significant decreases in children's reported television viewing and meals eaten in front of the television. There were no statistically significant differences between groups for changes in high-fat food intake, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness."

LA Tucker and M Bagwell. “Television viewing and obesity in adult females.” Am J Public Health, Jul 1991; 81: 908 - 911.

"After controlling for age, education, cigarette smoking, length of work week, and weekly duration of exercise, females who reported three to four hours of TV viewing per day showed almost twice the prevalence of obesity (body fat greater than 30 percent)."

LA Tucker and GM Friedman “Television viewing and obesity in adult males” Am J Public Health, Apr 1989; 79: 516 - 518.

"After adjustment for age, smoking status, length of work week, measured physical fitness, and reported weekly hours of exercise, people who viewed TV more than three hours/day were twice as likely to be obese as those who viewed less than 1 hour/day."

Frank B. Hu; Tricia Y. Li; Graham A. Colditz; Walter C. Willett; JoAnn E. Manson. "Television Watching and Other Sedentary Behaviors in Relation to Risk of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women." JAMA, Apr 2003; 289: 1785 - 1791.

*For obvious reasons Trash Your TV! can not make specific claims about the benefits your child will receive from this, only that they will burn more calories actively playing outdoors than they would have burned sitting in front of the television--snacking and watching commercials for junk food-- for the same amount of time.