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By: Chrissy Meyer, Region Senior Marketing Communications Director, American Heart Association-South Dakota
Technology has brought amazing amounts of connection and progress to our world and children today have not known a time before smartphones and prolific screen use. While screen time can be an easy solution to boredom, too much can be detrimental to children’s health and development. Being mindful of your own screen use as well as that of your kids can open up a whole new world of family connection and wellbeing.
Here are some ideas about how to limit screen time use as a family:
1. Make a plan to add physical activity to your daily routine
Be prepared to offer age-appropriate alternatives to TV or video games after school. Make physical activity a regular part of your family’s schedule – time spent playing soccer or going for a walk is time spent away from screens. Write it on a weekly calendar for the whole family to see.
2. Setup for Success
Subtle changes such as positioning your living room so the primary focus is not the TV or charging devices in the kitchen overnight instead of bedrooms can reduce unintentional screen time.
3. Prioritize play
What kids want more than anything else is time with grown-ups who value them and take an interest in them. . To give them that, don’t just send them out to play — go play with them! Develop a set of big body movement activities The whole family can enjoy like walks, trips to the trampoline park or movement-based video games.
4. Schedule that must-see-TV
Pick the shows you want to watch. Turn the TV on for only those shows and turn it off afterwards. Don’t just watch whatever comes on next.
5. Practice what you preach
As parents, you are your children’s biggest influence. You can be a role model and demonstrate what healthy screen time practices look like. Discuss how difficult you find it to cut back and share strategies with each other.
As we all know, it takes a village to instill healthy habits like this in our children. That’s why the American Heart Association is working in schools across the nation to teach children about being kind to ourselves. Throughout the Association’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge programs, schools are equipped with tools and activities to support both mental and physical well-being for students, families, and staff. Parents and schools who are interested in bringing the American Heart Association’s in-school programs to their children should visit www.heart.org/getstarted.
