Active Living Program News


Break Free of TV

What’s the number one reason people give for not being physically active? “I don’t have time.” Yet Americans spend an average of four hours a day watching TV. During TV-Turnoff Week April 25 – May 1 2005, Americans are encouraged to turn off the tube and find more productive, healthy, and active ways to spend their time. Active Living Every Day helps people confront their obstacles to being more active (such as thinking they don’t have time) and teaches proven problem-solving techniques for creating an active lifestyle.

We watch too much TV, and it’s affecting our health. Excessive TV-watching promotes sedentary lifestyles and obesity, reduces time spent with family, harms kids’ ability to read and perform well in school, and encourages violence. Check out these facts:

  • 40% of families always or often watch TV while eating dinner
  • Only 14% of 12th graders who watch TV six hours a day or more achieve proficiency on reading tests, while 52% of students who watch an hour or less do.
  • Almost 3,500 research studies over 40 years show a link between watching media violence and committing acts of real violence.
  • The proportion of overweight children has doubled since 1980 due, in part, to sedentary leisure time activities such as watching TV.

The TV-Turnoff Network offers suggestions for how to reduce or eliminate time in front of the TV. They’ve teamed up with the American Academy of Pediatrics for AmericaLive!, an initiative to provide tools for parents and children to break free from TV. Here are some suggestions from their “Turn It Off” brochure, along with some ideas we’ve added from Active Living Every Day:

  • Go for a walk.
  • Contact your local YMCA or parks and recreation department to find out about sports leagues, summer camps, and activities for the entire family.
  • Earth Day is April 22; go for a hike, help clean up a stream, or plant a tree or flowers to beautify the neighborhood.
  • Enroll in a class at your local community college.
  • Hold a family or neighborhood cookout.
  • Visit the local library (walk if it’s close by) to check out new books, participate in a reading group, or sign the kids up for story time.
  • Have a family game night, and give everyone a turn to choose their favorite game.
  • Take a bike ride.
  • Start a family scrapbook detailing the fun activities you do together.

Active Living Every Day teaches the strategies needed to make long-lasting changes to improve health and quality of life. To learn how you can offer this and other programs in your community, contact Active Living Partners by phone at 800-747-4457 ext 2522, by e-mail at michellem@hkusa.com, or visit our Web site at www.ActiveLiving.info.

Contact the TV-Turnoff Network for more information about how to help your school, church, workplace, and community to become TV free. Visit their Web site at www.tvturnoff.org or call 202-333-9220.



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