CHILD SEDENTARY SCREEN-BASED ACTIVITY – 2 TO 17 YEARS (NON-REMOTE AREAS)
Definition
The National Physical Activity Recommendations for children cover two components, physical activity and sedentary behaviour. This topic focuses on the collection of sedentary screen-based activity data.
The current National Physical Activity Recommendations for 0-5 year olds recommend a maximum of one hour of screen-based activity per day - that is, electronic media such as DVDs, computer and other electronic games. The current National Physical Activity Recommendations for 5-12 year olds and the National Physical Activity Recommendations for 13-17 year olds recommend a maximum of two hours screen-based activity for entertainment/non-educational purposes a day. For this survey 5 year olds are included with the older age group.
To assess against these screen-based activity recommendations for these age groups, this topic covers time spent sitting or lying down for screen-based activities (or sedentary screen-based activities) including watching TV/DVDs and playing electronic games. In addition, for 5-17 year olds, use of the internet or computer for homework and non-homework purposes was collected.
The collection of screen-based data did not include active movements such as standing/dancing in front of the TV. If a child was physically active in front of the TV this was included in physical activity time. Sitting or lying down for non-screen-based activities - such as sitting to eat meals or do craft was not included. This topic therefore does not provide a complete measure of screen-based activities or of sedentary activities, but is restricted to screen-based activities for which the respondent was sitting or lying down.
Population
Information was collected for persons in non-remote areas, aged:
- 2-17 years in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NATSINPAS)
- 5-17 years in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS).
Methodology
The collection methodology of this topic relied on respondent recall, and did not make use of a diary or other form of activity recording device. Child/young person involvement in answering the questions was encouraged, but was not always possible. The following principles were applied where practical:
|
| Population age | Child and/or Proxy involvement |
|
 | |
| 2-5 years | Proxy only. |
| |
| 6-8 years | Proxy, child can assist. |
| |
| 9-11 years | Interview child directly. Proxy there to assist. |
| |
| 12-14 years | Interview child directly. Proxy must remain in the same room. |
| |
| 15-17 years | Interview child directly. |
|
A data item is available for respondents 6-17 years which identifies level of child/young person and proxy involvement in this topic.
In both the 2-4 years and 5-17 years physical activity modules, information on sedentary screen-based activities was collected as part of a three day loop with physical activity questions, and included sitting or lying down to:
- watch television, videos or DVDs
- play any Playstation, Nintendo, X-Box, computer or handheld console games
- use the computer or Internet (for homework and for other purposes) (5-17 years only).
For each of these components of sedentary screen-based activity, respondents were asked the total amount of time spent (hours and minutes) doing that activity on that day. If the respondent reported using a computer or Internet they were asked if any of this use was for homework, and if so the time used for homework. This information was then summed, excluding the time spent using the computer or Internet for homework, for each day to calculate whether a person met the screen-based activity recommendation. A child was considered to have met the recommendation for a given day if their activity totalled no more than 60 or 120 minutes (depending on their age). A second item, which includes homework, has also been derived and included for analysis purposes.
Where it was reported that more than one screen-based activity was occurring at a time, respondents were asked to report what the main activity was. For example, if playing a handheld console game in front of the television, they reported on which one had the main focus.
Day representation and recall
With data being collected on a three day rather than a seven day basis, even representation of data across a week is not possible as a result of interview days not being evenly spread across a week.
For details regarding 3-day reporting days, refer to the
2-4 year olds and
5-17 year olds Physical Activity pages of this Users’ Guide.
Analysis identified no recall decline for children 2-4 years across the 3 days. For the 5-17 year olds there is a gradual decline across the 3 days, and the difference between average minutes reported on day 1 and day 3 is significant.
Data Items
The data items and related output categories for this topic are available in Excel spreadsheet format from the
Downloads page of this product.
Interpretation
Points to be considered in interpreting data for this topic include the following:
- Sedentary behaviour was based solely on screen-based activity and therefore did not include activities such as reading/story time, undertaking arts and crafts, or similar activity. Similarly, this topic does not collect a measure of total screen-based activity, as screen-based activity was only included if the respondent was sitting or lying down.
- Screen-based recommendations for 5-17 years focus on use for entertainment purposes. Time spent using the computer or Internet for homework was asked separately, and could be excluded from recommendation calculations. However other non-entertainment screen-based activities may have been included by the respondent (for example, for educational purposes during school time). Data about time spent on the computer or Internet for homework is available as a separate item.
- Accuracy of responses may vary with the proximity of the reporting day to the interview day. Analysis of data for 2-4 year olds by order of days reported indicated that there is no significant difference between the days for sedentary screen-based activity reported, although this may be influenced by the difficulty in reporting sedentary behaviour for this age group. Analysis of data for 5–17 year olds by order of days reported indicated that although there is a small decline in activities reported over the 3 days (that is, a peak on the first day prior to interview and reducing slightly with greater distance from the interview day) and the difference between average minutes on day 1 compared to day 3 is significant.
- If participation in two screen-based activities simultaneously was reported, respondents were asked to report only one so that total time doing sedentary screen-based activities could be calculated. As such, time participated in a single activity may not reflect the actual time using that device, as time spent may have been reported under another activity that was considered to be the focus at that time - for example, the television was on but time was reported under computer use as the respondent considered this to be their primary focus.
- As the sedentary screen-based recommendations are defined differently for different age groups, this should be taken into account if comparing 2-4 and 5-17 year old screen-based data.
- There were varying levels of child/young person participation in answering the questions, depending on age and parental permission. The accuracy of reports for activities occurring when the parent was not present (for example, activities during the school day) may therefore vary.
- There has been an increasing emphasis on the restriction of sedentary behaviours for children/young people in recent years. This may have introduced bias with the reporting of socially desirable responses in some instances.
Comparability with 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS)
Sedentary screen-based data was not collected in the 2004-05 NATSIHS. Therefore no comparisons are possible.
Comparability with 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS)
Sedentary screen-based data was not collected in 2008 NATSISS. Therefore no comparisons are possible.
Comparability with 2011-12 Australian Health Survey (AHS)
Sedentary screen-based data collected in the AATSIHS were based on the questions asked in the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS). The main difference being the reference period, with NNPAS collecting data on each of the seven days prior to interview, compared to the three days prior to interview in AATSIHS. NNPAS data identified a similar trend in reporting days to AATSIHS when limited to the three days prior to interview. Therefore, AATSIHS data is considered comparable when NNPAS data is limited to the three days prior to interview.
In addition, there are population differences. NNPAS collected this data for children 2-17 years, which is consistent and comparable with NATSINPAS. However, this content was only collected for 5-17 year olds in NATSIHS, and therefore any comparisons between NNPAS and NATSIHS or AATSIHS data should be limited to this population.
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