Overall Results
By Grade
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) released the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Children and Youth in February 2011. The guidelines recommend children and youth aged 5-17 years should limit recreational screen time (e.g. watching television, playing video games or surfing the internet) to no more than 2 hours per day for health benefits.
Overall Results
According to the 2019 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), more than two-thirds (70% (65.5%, 73.3%)) of Simcoe Muskoka students (Grades 7-12) reported spending three or more hours each day watching TV or movies, playing video or computer games, on a computer or tablet chatting, emailing, or surfing the Internet in their free time. This was significantly lower than the 75% (73.4%, 75.6%) of Ontario students that reported three or more hours of sedentary screen time per day. Sedentary screen time increased significantly in 2019 when compared with 2015 in both Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario overall.
By Grade
In 2019 among Simcoe Muskoka students (Grades 7-12), significantly more high school students (grades 9-12) reported three or more hours of sedentary screen time each day when compared with elementary students in Grades 7 or 8: 73% (69.0%, 77.2%) for high school students vs. 61% (48.8%, 71.2%) for Grade 7 or 7 students. Sedentary screen time increased significantly in 2019 when compared with 2015 in Simcoe Muskoka among both Grade 7 and 8 and high school students.
Page last updated June 23, 2022