OTTAWA – Nearly three out of every 10 Canadian adults (29%) reported that they watched on average 15 or more hours a week of television, or more than two hours a day, according to data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. About 19% reported 21 or more hours per week, or an average of at least three hours per day.
Frequent leisure-time computer use was less common, with about 15% of adults averaging 11 or more hours per week, according to StatsCan’s Screen Time Among Canadian Adults: A Profile report. Only 6% reported 21 or more hours per week, and close to one-third (31%) reported no leisure-time computer use.
One adult in 20, or about 5%, was both a frequent television viewer and a frequent leisure-time computer user.
Age was a major factor in determining the likelihood of being a frequent television viewer; the figure rose from 20% of adults aged 20 to 24 to 52% at 75 or older.
About 47% of people with less than secondary graduation were frequent TV viewers, twice the proportion of 24% among postsecondary graduates.
And 39% of people in households with the lowest incomes were frequent TV viewers. This was higher than the rate of 22% among those in the highest-income households.
Only about one-fifth (21%) of full-time workers were frequent TV viewers, compared with 37% of those who were not employed.
Interestingly, the data shows that computer use may be replacing television as the screen time activity of choice among younger Canadians.
About 45% of all the screen hours reported by young adults aged 20 to 24 were spent on a computer rather than watching television. Even middle-aged adults from age 45 to 54 spent one-quarter of their screen time using a computer.
About 17% of postsecondary graduates were frequent leisure-time computer users, more than twice the proportion of 7% among adults who had less than high school education.
Frequent TV viewing was defined as 15 or more hours a week, and frequent leisure-time computer use as 11 or more hours a week.
The data was derived from the 2007 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), which looked at Canadian adults and their TV viewing and computer use because these two sedentary activities can be related to obesity.
Screen Time Among Canadian Adults: A Profile was part of a larger report on the health of Canadians that was released by the federal government on Wednesday.
