Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Importance of the topic The Okanagan Science Centre is located in Vernon BC, a popular community for young families raising their children. While there has long been a concern about the impact that television watching may have on child development, in recent years the total screen time has become an issue. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, the average Canadian child watches 14 hours of television each week, a total that exceeds in the first 18 years of life, the number of hours they spend in school. There is emerging research and concern about the links between the number of hours children spend in "screen time" or engaged in new media and the inactivity of those children, increases in obesity and impacts on overall health of children. During the past year in Vernon a coalition of community agencies have met to initiate an information and support campaign for parents and children about being "Screen Smart." The goal is to inform parents about the impacts of screen time on children and to support parents in strategies to manage media with their children and limit screen time. Through this proposed Cafe, we want to support the work of this community coalition of agencies by informing their work and reach numerous families in our region concerned about this issue. The topic is of importance to health professionals and service providers in the community as well as the general public. The Okanagan Science Centre has a well-established core membership of over 3,000 people, largely composed of families with children. Because of the importance of the early years in children's development and the large audience we have of young children and their families, we wish to expand our support for them in topics that concern them. The Science Centre is well positioned to bring current research findings and information to this audience in the North Okanagan area