15 Facts and Figures About Your TV Habits You Shouldn’t Ignore

How much of your time do you spend watching T.V., on your computer, mobile device, etc.? In today’s day in age technology has become a major part of our society and day-to-day activities. It is easy to become consumed in the manifest of technology. Face to face interaction is starting to dwindle because individuals are using cell phones and other devices to take over this interaction. Turn off the phone, television, and other devices for one week, and turn on life!

Screen- Free Week (formally TV-Turnoff Week) organized annually by The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is celebrated in May each year and is a time where children, families and communities turn off the TV, mobile games, video games and all other screens and turn on life. Screen-Free Week provides an opportunity for children to explore, socialize, be imaginative, read, learn and be physically active. This week is not meant to “punish” kids by taking away technological devices, but to create lifelong healthy habits.

There’s no reason why Screen-Free Week shouldn’t be encouraged all year round. Especially now, during the summer months, it is important to get the kids outside to run around and move their bodies. This will also broaden their imaginations and allow them to become well-rounded individuals without technology shaping them.

Consider the following facts and figures about TV habits:

1) About 98% of all televised food ads seen by children are for foods high in fat, sugar or sodium.
2) Marketers purposefully encourage children to nag their parents for products. Nagging accounts for one in three fast food restaurants trips.
3) It is recommended that children get 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily.
4) The more babies engage with screens the less time they spend in creative play-the foundation of learning.
5) According the American Heart Association, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese. This is nearly triple the rate in 1963.
6) Every year, one full week of teaching time is lost to Channel One.
7) One day of teaching time per year is lost just to the ads.
8) In 2011 there were 3 million downloads just of Fisher Price apps for infants and toddlers; estimating that preschoolers spend on average with screen media ranging from 2.2 to 4.6 hours per day.
9) There is a 70% chance that an overweight adolescent will become an overweight or obese adult.
10) On any given day, 64% of babies between the ages of 1 and 2 watch TV and videos for an average of slightly over 2 hours.
11) Until the age of about 8, children do not understand advertising’s persuasive intent and very young children can’t distinguish between commercials and program content.
12) Children watch 40,000 television commercials a year.
13) Children can develop brand loyalty by age 2.
14) By age 65, the average American has seen 2 million commercials.
15) 40% of Americans always or often watch TV while eating dinner.

Commercials penetrate through children’s heads and give them false information. Children don’t know the difference, and commercials get under their skin more than it does adults. Advertising for unhealthy foods creates a lifestyle that you don’t want for your children. Television is a short-term fix, to get the kids to settle down for a few minutes, but it is a long-term health hazard. The more time children spend watching television the less time they are doing moderate physical activity. This is not a lifestyle that you want to create for your children. Be a role model, go outside and show them there is more to life than technology.

Time spent in front of screens is linked to childhood obesity, attention problems and poor school performance. Watching TV, playing with technological devices in place of playing outside and exposure to harmful marketing can increase the risk of obesity in children as well as adults. Turning of technology will help kids develop and become their own individual. Don’t let the television shape who your kids are, take a stand and turn on life for just one week and see how it affects your family!