As we saw last night, unlimited time in front of videogames and television was a major issue in Hugh’s house. In order for Hugh’s family to get healthier, they needed to switch off the television and peel themselves off the couch.

Besides the fact that sitting watching the screen means you aren’t getting any exercise, there are a number of other reasons why watching too much TV is bad for your family’s health.

"Limiting TV, videogame and computer time is important for a lot of reasons," says Dr Susan Bartell, author of Dr Susan's Fit & Fun Family Action Plan. "First of all, watching a screen is completely sedentary - even playing a board game is more active than watching TV. It is also important because of all the food commercials. The number of commercials that kids, especially older kids, see for food is staggering. Fast food is a massive problem, and kids will want to eat what is being advertised to them."

Because of this, Bartell recomends that the television time your child has is as commercial free as possible, and if necessary you can even go so far as to tape your children's favourite shows and fast-forward through the commercials (or you could use pre-recorded DVDs). When a commercial for unhealthy food comes on, you could use that as an opportunity to talk about how unhealthy foods are made to look more appealing in commercials. Educate them about the fact that those ads are strategically placed at that time of day to appeal to kids, and the food companies aren't as interested in your child's health as you are.

Another problem with watching too much TV is that we tend to eat mindlessly when sit in front of the box. Bartell advises only giving your child one healthy snack when they are watching TV, with no refills. Be strong and stay firm, remind them that it is because you love them that you are restricting how much food you are giving them.

Although the prospect was pretty daunting, turning off the TV wasn't too much of a drama for Hugh's family. "Getting away from the TV wasn't as hard as we thought it would be," says Jim, "once we had a family goal of getting fit and losing weight it became quite easy because we replaced the TV with getting out and doing things together."

Less TV time definitely brought the family closer. The family bought bikes and because the boys were so excited about biking, they hardly noticed that they weren't watching TV. "We still like to play video games but they don't take up all of our time like they used to. It's about finding balance," says Jim.