HHS urges parents to reduce screen time and promote outdoor play for children

The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new initiative encouraging American families to limit children’s screen use and increase outdoor activities, emphasising health, socialisation, and overall well-being.

The Department of Health and Human Services is urging American families to reconsider how much of childhood is spent in front of a screen, framing the issue as a matter of health, development and family life. In a recent push tied to its “Live Real Life” initiative, the agency said children need more time outdoors, more direct social contact and more unstructured play, rather than having phones, tablets and televisions dominate their days.

At an HHS symposium in Washington on September 1, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said screens should not displace the experiences children need to grow and thrive. The department said the event brought together leaders from technology, medicine, research, education, government and advocacy to discuss the effects of heavy screen use and to outline practical steps parents can take. The initiative is presented as a guide for families trying to manage technology use without cutting children off from it entirely.

Kennedy pointed to what he described as sobering patterns in young people’s daily lives, saying teenagers are spending hours a day on screens and that even very young children are logging substantial screen time. He also argued that too little physical activity is part of the problem. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said the current generation is increasingly living “through their screens”, while Thomas J. Engels of the Health Resources and Services Administration emphasised the need for children to meet people, take part in activities and spend more time outside.

The campaign reflects a broader concern among health officials that childhood has become more sedentary and less social than in previous generations. Kennedy said his own childhood in the woods and around sports, animals and outdoor play shaped his sense of connection to the world, and he cast that kind of experience as something children should still have access to today. HHS said its recent advisory and toolkit are meant to help families act now, not simply worry about the effects of excessive screen use.