Programs aimed at reducing children’s screentime are more successful when they have a place to play outside, according to a University of Michigan study.
The study, published in the journal Health and Place, also found that such programs are less successful in neighborhoods where children have less access to green spaces, which include areas such as forests, shrubland, open spaces and grassland.
Ian-Marshall Lang Researcher at School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan
“Because prior studies have shown differences in the effectiveness of community programming and policies by race and ethnicity, we set out to show why this may be the case. We thought that access to green space might be a key factor, given that national research shows racial and ethnic inequities in green space availability. This raises the question of who has access to high green space. Both our study and national data show green space is less common in communities with higher Hispanic and Black populations.”
“These unfair differences in green space access might explain why community programs and policies are less effective in reducing screen time among different racial groups. To address screentime inequities, we need solutions that create fair, just and healthy environments for all communities,” Lang stated.
Lang and colleagues drew upon data from the Healthy Communities Study, which examines the use of community programs and policies and obesity-related behaviors among racially and ethnically diverse children. The researchers also linked new information about the participants’ communities and neighborhoods so they could better understand what the children’s neighborhoods looked like.
Image Credits: Nataliya Vaitkevich@Pexels | Cropped by GBN
About two-thirds of children ages 6 to 17 exceed the recommended limit of two hours of screentime each day. Community programs and policies aim to reduce children’s screen use by providing community-based education and skill development programs for parents, or no-cost physical activity opportunities for children. But these programs and policies seem to fare better when children have a space to play outside of their homes.
“Neighborhood green spaces may draw children out of the house and give them an alternative space to engage in activities other than screentime. Thus, in neighborhoods where green space is sparser, the environment may be less encouraging and less successful at pulling children away from the screen. Simply increasing the intensity of screentime reduction programs may not be effective in environments that do not support behavior change,” Lang added.
