• Posted January 10, 2025

Access to Green Space May Help Reduce Kids' Screen Time

Want to help your child cut back on their screen time?

Make sure you live near parks and other open spaces where they can frolic outside.

New research underlines the importance of green space access as an alternative to spending time on screens, described as watching television, playing video games, and non-school related computer use.

“Neighborhood green spaces may draw children out of the house and give them an alternative space to engage in activities other than screen time," according to Ian-Marshall Lang, lead study author and researcher at University of Michigan's (U-M) School of Kinesiology.

Published last year in the journal Health & Place, the study was inspired by earlier findings on the differences in the effectiveness of community programming and policies by race and ethnicity. National research shows racial and ethnic inequities in green space availability, so Lang and the other authors suspected access to green space was a key factor behind the trend.

While programs aimed at reducing time spent on screens are more likely to be successful in green, park-filled areas, the reverse holds. Programs are less successful in neighborhoods where children have less access to green spaces, described by the study authors as areas such as forests, shrubland, open spaces and grassland.

“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," Lang stated.

All kids in the U.S. spend a lot of time in front of screens, and the amount of time increases year after year. About two-thirds of 6–17-year-olds exceed the recommended daily limit of 2 hours, authors noted.

Too much time online increases the risk of childhood obesity while sedentary habits established early in life can persist into late childhood and adulthood, research shows. This emphasizes the need for childhood interventions to reduce and eliminate excessive screen time trends.

What's more, there are significant racial and ethnic differences in who exceeds this limit, with African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino children the most likely to exceed time limits.

“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 screen time inequities, we need solutions that create fair, just and healthy environments for all communities,” to Lang explained.

The U-M study suggests that simply increasing the intensity of community programming may not be a solution.

In other words, they've learned what doesn't work to reduce screen time. Short of green space, problems will likely persist. Other features that strengthen programs cannot compensate for the absence of opportunities for outdoor play.

In background notes, the authors explained that environmental justice data consistently demonstrates people of color have lower access to greenspace and other urban vegetation.

Research shows that in the U.S., greenspace inequities are rooted in decades of systemic racism.

“Simply increasing the intensity of screen-time reduction programs may not be effective in environments that do not support behavior change," Lang explained.

On the positive side, spending time in nature has been linked to stress relief as well as to better mental health.

“This work is particularly important for organizations that have the responsibility and power to make equitable investments in green spaces to support the health of children,” Lang concluded. “Our findings provide evidence-based support for initiatives like the 10-Minute Walk Program that calls on city mayors to address inequities in green space access by ensuring that everyone in U.S. cities has access to a quality park within a 10-minute walk of their home.”

More information

UC Health offers families ideas and inspiration to get outside and explore nature.

SOURCE: University of Michigan, press release, Jan. 6, 2025