Page tools:
 Print Page
 Print All
| |||
Establishing active habits early in life can lead to ongoing healthy behaviours. Regular physical activity plays a key role in reducing the risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as well as building a strong musculoskeletal system. It may also improve mental health and psycho-social wellbeing. Among children and adolescents, regular physical activity has been associated with improved school performance, a greater sense of personal responsibility and group participation. 1
Physical Activity In 2012-13, one in two (48%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-17 in non-remote areas met the recommended 60 minutes or more of physical activity per day on all three days prior to interview. This was higher than the rate for non-Indigenous children where only one in three (35%) met the recommendation. In addition, around 69% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children averaged at least one hour of physical activity per day over the three days compared with only 62% of non-Indigenous children.
(b)(c), 2011-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) Excludes time not known (b) In the 3 days prior to interview (d) Category 0-1 includes 1 minute to 59 minutes, 1-2 includes 1 hour to 1 hour 59 minutes, etc. Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
Overall, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children spent an average of two hours (119 minutes) per day on physical activity, consisting of 91 minutes of moderate and vigorous activity and 28 minutes of active transport. This was 25 minutes more than non-Indigenous children, with more time spent on both active transport (28 compared to 21 minutes) and moderate and vigorous activity (91 compared to 74 minutes). The types of physical activity contributions changed with age. In the 5-8 years age group, the majority of physical activity time was moderate and vigorous (2.2 hours), with active transport contributing only 14% of average time spent. However, by age 15-17 years, moderate and vigorous dropped to 0.7 hours per day, with active transport forming almost half (44%) of overall physical activity time.
(b)(c)(d) by age, 2012-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) In the 3 days prior to interview (c) Excludes time not known (d) Per day Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
Boys spent, on average, an additional 30 minutes on physical activity per day than girls (2.2 compared to 1.7 hours) and were also more likely to participate in active transport (62% compared to 56%). As such, more boys were found to have met the physical activity recommendations on all three days prior to interview (54% compared to 41%). The most common physical activity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-17 years was active play and children’s games (57%), which includes activities like running around, playing on playground equipment and skipping. This was followed by swimming, in which one in five children participated (18%), and cycling or bike-riding, in which one in ten children participated (11%). These were similar to non-Indigenous children, whose most common physical activities were also active play and children’s games (42%) and swimming (17%).
(b), 2012-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) Excludes active transport. Activities are reported only when they are identified as having a moderate or vigorous intensity level. As a result these figures may not represent the total number of persons who participated in each of the activities (c) Excludes exercise bike riding, spin cycling, BMXing and mountain biking Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
However, the most common activities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and girls differed. For boys these included rugby league (12%) and outdoor soccer (8%), while among girls these included dancing or ballet (14%) and bush walking or walking for exercise (13%). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who participated in the pedometer study recorded an average of 9,593 steps per day, with no differences between boys and girls. One in four children (25%) met the threshold of 12,000 steps per day (on average). No significant differences were found when compared with non-Indigenous children. Screen-based Activity In 2012-13, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-17 years in non-remote areas spent an average of 2.6 hours on screen-based activities per day, with just 3 minutes of this being for homework. Less than half (43%) met the sedentary screen-based activity threshold, which recommends children spend no more than 2 hours on screen based activity for entertainment and non-homework purposes per day.
(b)(c), 2012-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) In the 3 days prior to interview (c) Per day (d) Using computer or internet (for homework) time rounded to zero Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
Overall, TV/DVD watching accounted for most of the screen-based activity, with electronic games having the second largest contribution. While no differences were found among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non-Indigenous children in their overall use of sedentary screen-based activity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were found to have averaged more time on both watching TV/DVDs (1.7 compared with 1.5 hours) and playing electronic games (0.5 compared with 0.4 hours).
(b)(c), 2011-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) In the 3 days prior to interview (c) Per day Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
Boys averaged more time on screen-based activity than girls (2.7 compared with 2.4 hours), with a major difference being their use of electronic games. Boys were twice as likely to play electronic games, spending on average four times more on electronic games than girls (46 compared to 11 minutes per day). On the other hand, girls were twice as likely to use the computer or internet for homework (15% compared with 7%), spending twice as much time on homework than boys (4 compared to 2 minutes). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-17 were three times as likely to use the internet or computer for non-homework purposes than for homework purposes (34% compared to 11%), and spent on average seven times more per day on non-homework purposes (23 compared with 3 minutes). Time spent using the computer and internet increased with age, both for homework and other purposes with 15-17 year olds spending 53 minutes per day using the computer compared with only 6 minutes for 5-8 year olds.
(b),2012-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) In the 3 days prior to interview Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were half as likely as non-Indigenous children to use the internet or computer for homework purposes (11% compared with 24%). At age 12-14 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children spent half the time non-Indigenous children did on homework (4 compared to 8 minutes), decreasing to nearly one third of the time by age 15-17 years (8 compared to 20 minutes). Over half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-17 (61%) had some kind of screen-based equipment in their bedroom, with TVs (50%) most common. The presence of screen-based items in bedrooms increased with age, with older children more likely to have at least one screen-based item in their bedroom (79% of 15-17 year olds compared to 47% of 5-8 year olds). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were more likely than non-Indigenous children to have at least one item in their bedroom (61% compared with 51%) and almost twice as likely to have a television in their bedroom (50% compared with 27%).
Comparing physical and screen-based activity In general, physical activity decreased and sedentary screen-based activity increased as children became older. For example, while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 5-8 years did an average of two and a half hours (2.6 hours) of physical activity per day, the 15-17 year olds did half that amount (1.3 hours). At the same time, older children spent up to an hour and a half more on screen-based activities each day, with 15-17 year olds averaging 3.3 hours compared with 1.9 hours for 5-8 year olds. This trend was also seen for non-Indigenous children.
(b)(c), 2012-13.GIF) Footnote(s): (a) In non-remote areas (b) In the 3 days prior to interview (c) Per day Source(s): Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2012-13
As a result of this trend, the likelihood of meeting the physical activity and screen-based activity recommendations on all three days prior to interview decreased with age. Two in three (64%) 5-8 year olds met the physical activity recommendation of at least 60 minutes on all three days. However, the likelihood of meeting the physical activity recommendation dropped to one in four (25%) by the age of 15-17. Similarly, one in two (53%) 5-8 year olds met the screen-based recommendation compared to one in three (31%) 15-17 year olds. Despite this, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were more likely than non-Indigenous children to meet both recommendations, with 25% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children meeting both recommendations, compared with 18% of non-Indigenous children. For more information, see Tables 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 21 on the Downloads page of this publication.
ENDNOTES
Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
|
|||
4727.0.55.004 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Physical activity, 2012-13
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/12/2014 First Issue
This page last updated 24 April 2019