News Room

Facts Sheets

  • Media and Obesity

    Some of the nation's leading authorities on children's development have begun to take a close look at how media use may contribute to America's childhood obesity epidemic.

    • A recent study from the Institutes of Medicine found that junk food advertising aimed at kids led them to choose foods of low nutritional value.
    • 83 percent of foods advertised on the programs most popular with children are for fast foods and sweets.
    • A preschooler's risk of obesity jumps 6 percent for every hour of TV watched per day; 31 percent if the TV is in their bedroom.
    • On average, every five minutes of Saturday morning cartoons contain one ad for a food product.

  • Violent Video Games

    • Dozens of studies have found a connection between playing violent video games and increased aggressive thoughts and actions.
    • An overwhelming majority of boys under the age of 17 -- 87 percent -- have played M-rated games, and only 1 percent of teens say their parents ever stopped them from playing M-rated games.
    • A recent investigation found that children as young as 9 were able to purchase adult-rated video games containing violent and sexually explicit content in nearly five out of 10 attempts.

  • Kids' Media Use

    Kids today are growing up in a much different media environment than their parents did. As electronic media technologies have increased in popularity, the amount of time kids spend with the media has jumped dramatically.

    • Kids aged 8 to 18 now spend an average of 44.5 hours per week watching television, playing video games, using the computer, listening to music, etc. That's more time than they spend with their parents (17 hours) or in school (30 hours).

    And at the same time that kids have begun spending more and more time with the media, media content has gotten edgier and edgier:

    • Nearly two out of every three television programs contain violence. Television shows average six violent acts per hour, and, surprisingly, studies have found that violent acts are most prevalent in children's shows.
    • Sexual content appears in 64 percent of all television programs, and only 14 percent of shows with sexual content contain some reference to sexual risks and responsibilities. Shows with sexual content average 4.4 sexual scenes per hour.

  • Common Sense

    • Common Sense Media is the leading non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving media and entertainment choices for kids and families.
    • Our Common Sense Media Guide provides expert reviews, ratings, and viewing tips on more than 5,000 movies, television shows, video games, Web sites, books, and music recordings.
    • Through our Web site and our distribution partnerships with America Online, Netflix, MSN, Google, and Johnson and Johnson's BabyCenter/ParentCenter, we provide more than 4 million regular users with independent information about media content.
    • Our outreach staff works closely with hundreds of community organizations, and through our media literacy workshops we've reached tens of thousands of parents, teachers, and community leaders across the country.