Guardians reported the number of hours per day their children spent on three screen-based activities on a typical weekday and at the weekend. The three screen-based activities include 'watching television / films / videos', 'playing video games', and doing 'other online or screen-based activities.'
Watching television, films, or videos was the activity with the highest proportion of children spending an hour or more doing so per day. On weekdays, eight in ten (80.3%) children aged 13 to 14 years spent an hour or more per day watching television, films or videos. More than seven in ten (74.3%) children aged 9 to 12 years and almost six in ten (57.6%) children aged 3 to 8 years spent an hour or more doing so.
On weekends, the share of children aged 3 to 8 years and aged 9 to 12 years watching television, films or video for an hour or more increased compared with weekdays, while for those aged 13 to 14 years it remained almost the same. On weekends, more than eight in ten (83.2%) children aged 13 to 14 years spent more than an hour watching television, films or videos, with a similar rate for those aged 9 to 12 years (83.4%%) and more than seven in ten (74.7%) for those aged 3 to 8 years.
Playing video games was the screen-based activity with the least number of hours spent on it. On weekdays, more than three in ten children aged 13 to 14 years (32.4%) and aged 9 to 12 years (32.2%) spent an hour or more per day playing video games. Just over one in ten (12.3%) children aged 3 to 8 years did so.
On weekends, more than five in ten children aged 13 to 14 years (54.8%) and aged 9 to 12 years (54.4%) spent an hour or more per day playing video games. Just over two in ten (23.9%) children aged 3 to 8 years did so.
On weekdays, older children were more likely than younger children to be doing 'other online or screen-based activities' with almost five in ten aged 13 to 14 years (49.6%) spending an hour or more per weekday doing this. Almost four in ten (35.2%) children aged 9 to 12 years and almost two in ten (15.0%) children aged 3 to 8 years spent an hour or more doing so. 'Other online or screen-based activities' excludes watching tv, films or videos, and playing video games.
On weekends, children typically spent more time doing 'other online or screen-based activities.' Almost seven in ten (65.5%) children aged 13 to 14 years spent an hour or more doing so. More than four in ten (44.8%) children aged 9 to 12 years and more than two in ten (22.6%) children aged 3 to 8 years spent an hour or more. Less than one in six (16.1%) children aged 13 to 14 years spent four hours or more per day on 'other online or screen-based activities' at the weekend.
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