Screen time – time spent watching TV, using a tablet or smartphone, or playing computer or video games – could be spent exercising, reading, doing homework, or spending time with friends and family, instead. TV and internet sites also have tons of advertisements, especially for junk food. Kids who often watch more than four hours of TV per day are more likely to be overweight. Strategies to replace screen time activities with more active play are critical ways to help kids reduce their time spent in front of a screen.
Curricula & Trainings
Eat Well & Keep Moving
Citation: Cheung LWY, Dart H, Kalin S, Otis B, Gortmaker SL. Eat Well & Keep Moving: An Interdisciplinary Elementary Curriculum Nutrition and Physical Activity (Third Edition). Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 2016.
Newsletter Handouts
Newsletter handouts to send home (educators can send home these sample newsletters to inform parents and complement the Eat Well & Keep Moving lesson topic being taught in the classroom). Newsletter handout related to screen time and marketing:
–Tune Out the TV
Trainings
Training Workshop for Food Service Staff
Six training modules for food service staff provide an overview of the Eat Well & Keep Moving program, focusing on the role of food services in making the link between classroom and cafeteria. An additional lunch break demonstrates some cafeteria dishes.
Training Workshop for Teachers
Six training sessions provide teachers with an overview of the Eat Well & Keep Moving program as well as a review of the curriculum’s classroom lessons. The training workshop is designed to last a total of six hours.
Food & Fun Afterschool
Full, 600-page Food & Fun Afterschool curriculum
This curriculum includes all units, planning tools, recipes, and parent materials. Units related to screen time and marketing:
–Unit 8: Reduce TV Viewing—Tune Out the TV!
–Unit 11: Food & Fun Finale!
Staff Training
Food & Fun Afterschool has several training strategies to help afterschool staff learn about and implement the curriculum, including a training video.
Staff Planning Tools
These planning tools can help staff create healthy changes in out-of-school settings.
Newsletter Articles, Emails, & Handouts
These tools help reinforce the messages in Food & Fun. All are available in English and Spanish, and the handouts are also available in Chinese.
Parent Handouts
These handouts – available in English, Spanish, and Chinese – include topic area information and tips for success for parents to create healthier environments for their children. Parent handout related to sugary drinks:
– Take Control of TV
Learn more about Food & Fun Afterschool here.
Planet Health
Citation: Carter J, Wiecha JL, Peterson KE, Nobrega S, Gortmaker SL. Planet Health: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Teaching Middle School Nutrition and Physical Activity (Second Edition). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics; 2007.
Learn more about Planet Health here.
Fact Sheets
Out-of-School Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP) Initiative
Tip Sheets
These tip sheets, informed by out-of-school/afterschool program experiences, can help afterschool and other out-of-school-time programs make sustainable changes to program practices. They are practical guides designed to simplify healthy changes and describe promising practices for out-of-school/afterschool staff. OSNAP tip sheets related to sugary drinks:
– Turn Off that Screen!
– Healthy Staff, Healthy Kids!
Learn more about OSNAP here.
Tools & Guides
Outsmarting the Smart Screens: A Parent’s Guide to the Tools that are Here to Help
This guide can help parents take control of their children’s screen time, and was featured in The New York Times’ Well column and other media sources.
Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) Project
>>Featured resource:
Strategy Profile: Reducing Exposure to Unhealthy Food and Beverage Advertising
Reducing exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising is a strategy to eliminate the tax deductibility of television advertising costs for nutritionally poor foods and beverages advertised to children and adolescents ages 2-19. This profile describes the estimated benefits, activities, resources, and leadership needed to implement this strategy, which can be useful for planning and prioritization purposes.
Learn more about the CHOICES Project here and browse more tools & guides related to unhealthy food & beverage marketing in the CHOICES Resource Library.
Food & Fun & Family
A Guide to Help Busy Families Develop Healthier Habits at Home
This guide contains lots tips and ideas for meals and activities that are healthy and fun for the whole family.
Learn more about Food & Fun here.
Out-of-School Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP) Initiative
Fast Maps
These tools are designed to help out-of-school/afterschool program staff overcome systematic challenges that go beyond the site level. For example, addressing issues of limited space for physical activity in out-of-school/afterschool programs might involve meeting with school principals or partnering with nearby community spaces. OSNAP Fast Maps related to sugary drinks:
–Reducing Screen Time
Practice Assessment Tool
This form can help out-of-school/afterschool program staff see where their program is currently at regarding the OSNAP standards. This form will help identify areas an organization can take action on to improve the health of kids.
Learn more about OSNAP here.
Research Briefs & Reports
Massachusetts CHOICES (MA-CHOICES) Project
Research Brief: Boston, MA: Reducing Screen Time in Early Child Care Settings
–View as a webpage
–Download as a PDF
Research Brief: Boston, MA: Home Visits to Reduce Screen Time
–View as a webpage
–Download as a PDF
Research Brief: Boston, MA: Creating Healthier Afterschool Environments (OSNAP)
–View as an accessible webpage
–Download as a PDF
Learn more about the MA-CHOICES project here.
Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) Project
>>Featured resource:
Research Brief: Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Television Time Reduction in Arkansas
This brief summarizes the findings from a CHOICES Learning Collaborative Partnership model examining a strategy to incorporate television time counseling into the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Arkansas. WIC staff would be trained to assess children’s television viewing and offer education on modifying television behaviors during WIC certification visits.
Learn more about the CHOICES Project here and browse more research briefs & reports related to unhealthy food & beverage marketing in the CHOICES Resource Library
External Resources
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC)
Screen time vs. Lean Time, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)