Free Blog about Kids and Media - Common Sense Media Blog

Entertainers Have Responsibility to Children's Health

Many people know me as an actor and director, but my most important role is that of a father to my three children. Raising healthy, happy children is my top priority.

That’s why, even though I am in the entertainment business, I am concerned about how much time kids spend these days sitting in front of television and computer screens -- a total of 6 1/2 hours daily, according to recent Kaiser Family Foundation study.

This media overload has taken a dire toll on the health of our children. We are currently facing a national childhood obesity epidemic. Our kids are barraged with junk food advertising, while they spend fewer hours playing outside and getting the exercise they need to stay fit, healthy, and strong.

I believe we in the entertainment industry have an obligation to speak out on this issue. That is why my organization, Parents’ Action for Children, has launched a major national campaign to engage parents in efforts to prevent childhood obesity. We call the campaign Stir It Up and we are kicking off our efforts in our nation’s schools where junk food is all too readily available and physical education is often non-existent.

We our proud to be partnering with Common Sense Media as we mobilize parents to Stir It Up in their children’s schools. Our goals are to get junk food out of every school in America, insure that vending machines dispense healthy alternatives to soda, candy bars, and chips, and increase the amount of physical activity available to every child, every day.

We believe that if a million parents stand up and demand that junk food be taken out of our schools, it will happen.

But we won’t stop there. I founded Parents’ Action for Children, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, in 1997 with my wife Michele to bring parents together as a potent political force on issues of importance to children and families. We believe that building a parent movement starts in our own homes. From the earliest years in a child’s life, we parents are the number one advocates for our own children. As a result, an important part of the Stir It Up campaign is providing parents with simple, practical steps to improve the health of their own families. To find out more visit www.parentsaction.org.

As parents, we know what’s best for our children. But we need to speak up or those who wield the power will assume we’re content with the status quo. On the Parents' Action for Children Website, you can find a variety of simple actions you can take to join the healthy schools movement, including information on how you can survey the health of your children’s schools and help improve student nutrition.

I applaud Common Sense Media’s efforts to raise awareness about how the media affects children and the role it is currently playing in the obesity crisis. With the help of organizations like Common Sense Media, and the vital support of parents everywhere, I believe we have the power to make this country a healthier place for all children.