skip to main content

How to find us

Phone: 206-296-4600
TTY Relay: 711

Toll-free: 800-325-6165

Click here to email us

Instructions to submit a Public Records Request

Live outside the box: Everything is more fun when it's real!

Benefits of reducing TV and screen time

Live Outside the Box tv screenAs parents, childcare and health care providers, you have influence over the amount of television the children in your care are able to watch. Watching television, including movies and video games, takes time away from the physical activity that kids need every day to be healthy and happy.

Children who are physically active are less likely to be overweight, are sick less often, do better in school, sleep better, and are less likely to feel sad, depressed, or stressed. Adults experience many of these same benefits.

The more time a child spends watching TV, the greater chance he or she has of becoming overweight. Overweight children face many health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory (breathing) problems, trouble sleeping, and depression.

Watching too much TV can not only keeps kids sedentary instead of active, but kids also see about 40,000 ads on TV each year, most of which are for candy, cereal and fast food. These ads pressure kids to choose unhealthy foods to eat.

Screen-Free Week materials: Toolkits, posters and PSA

"Live outside the box" toolkit (PDF):

  • Facts about television and health
  • A tool to assess how much television families are really watching
  • A "Live outside the box" challenge to go "No TV for a Week!"
  • Alternatives to watching television, including 25 indoor activities, 25 outdoor activities, and fun, easy recipes for families

Posters (PDF):

Basketball activity poster
Bicycling activity poster
Cooking activity poster in English
Rompe el molde -- cooking poster in Spanish (PDF)
Rompe el molde
(Spanish/en español)
Reading activity poster
Skateboarding activity poster
Soccer activity

Public Service Announcement:

Listen to our Public Service Announcement that aired on KUBE FM (MP3 format)

Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW)

Several CPPW grantees are working to develop and implement model child care health policies on nutrition, physical activity and screen time. For more information about these projects, contact Adrienne Dorf: adrienne.dorf@kingcounty.gov or 206-263-8151. For more information about CPPW, please visit Healthykingcounty.org.

Television and health resources

Most kids in the United States watch 20 to 30 hours of television every week, or about 3 to 4 hours a day. In a year, the average kid spends 900 hours in school and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a TV. That's 1,023 hours that your family could spend together playing, riding bikes, reading, or having fun with friends!

For more information on how television can impact kid's health, visit:

American Academy of Pediatrics:

Kaiser Family Foundation:

Resources for parents and caregivers

For more information on fun activities kids and families can do without TV, visit: