Sedentary behaviour occurs when children and youth are doing very little physical movement. Some examples include sitting for long periods of time, watching television, playing video games, and time on a computer.[1] Children who spend less time sedentary are more likely to maintain a healthy body weight, do better in school, and have higher self-confidence.[1]
Senior kindergarten students who have 3 or more hours of screen time daily |
About the MeasureThis measure comes from the Kindergarten Parent Survey (KPS), a questionnaire completed by parents of senior kindergarten students. The KPS collects information on factors that may influence a child's developmental health. The survey asks parents about how often their child watches television, uses the computer or plays video games at home. The responses are compared to the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guideline that recommends that children, aged 5 to 17, limit their screen time to under two hour per day.[1] The 2018 KPS was administered in Dufferin, but not Wellington and Guelph. If you would like to access 2018 KPS data for Dufferin, please contact Jane Hall at County of Dufferin Children’s Services: jahall@dufferincounty.ca Key FindingsOverall, senior kindergarten parents in Guelph (18.4%) are more likely than parents in Wellington (14.9%) and Dufferin (13.2%) to report that their child watches three or more hours of screen time daily. This means that more senior kindergarten children in Guelph are exceeding the screen time guidelines. About one-third of all local kindergarten students watches two hours of screen time daily, meaning that these children are within the recommended guidelines. Data at the municipal level can be found in the downloadable Excel file at the bottom of this page.
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Source: Kindergarten Parent Survey, 2015. Prepared by the County of Dufferin and the County of Wellington. WDG Report Card Coalition (distributor). Last updated August, 2016. LimitationsThe KPS is completed voluntarily and may be subject to underreporting and response bias. Certain sub-groups of the population are less likely to respond to voluntary surveys. As a result, the data may not be representative of the entire population. It should be noted that some senior kindergarten students are four years old and would be classified under a different age category in the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines.
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Grade 3 students who report watching four or more television programs daily |
About the MeasureThe Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) provincial tests assess student literacy and mathematic skills.[2] Students in grade 3 must write an EQAO test. A questionnaire is administered along with the provincial test that asks students about their out-of-school experience. The questionnaire asks students about how often they typically watch television on school days, including the amount before and after school. The Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guideline recommends that children and youth, aged 5 to 17, limit their recreational screen time to under two hours per day.[1] Students who report watching four or more television programs exceed the maximum recommended daily screen time. Key FindingsAcross Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, more grade 3 student report watching two or more programs after school compared to before school. Since 2011, the percentage of student who reported watching two or more programs after school has declined. Data for Wellington, Dufferin and Guelph can be found in the downloadable Excel file at the bottom of this page.
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Source: EQAO. 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017. Grade 3 Provincial Testing Results. Prepared by Health Analytics Team, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. WDG Report Card Coalition (distributor). Last updated June, 2019. LimitationsThis portion of the EQAO is voluntary. It collects self-reported data and is subject to response and recall bias. The questions from the EQAO restrict the definition of screen time to television watching. As a result, data from these questions do not provide a full picture of screen time as they do not include computer, tablet and cellphone use, or video game playing. These questions also ask about the number of programs viewed, but not the length of programs. As a result, the measure focuses on "4 or more programs" and assumes that programs are at least 30 minutes in length to align with the maximum two hours of recreational screen time. However, programs may last more than an hour. Data presented in this measure should be viewed as the minimum percentage of children exceeding the guidelines.
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Youth who report having more than two hours of screen time daily |
About the MeasureThis measure is collected from the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Youth Survey that gathers self-reported well-being data from grade 7 and 10 students. The survey asks students about how often they watch television, use the computer, cell phone, tablet, or play video games outside of school. The Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guideline recommends that children and youth, aged 5 to 17, limit their recreational screen time to under two hours per day.[1] Key FindingsAcross the three Youth Survey cycles, reported screen time increased. In 2017-18, 55% grade 7 students and 73% of grade 10 students reported exceeding the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guideline for recreational screen time. Not shown on the graph, youth in Wellington (59%) were less likely to report more than 2 hours of screen time than youth in Dufferin (66%) and Guelph (66%). Additional screen time categories, as well as data at the municipal level, can be found in the downloadable Excel file at the bottom of this page.
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Source: WDG Youth Survey, 2011-12, 2014-15 and 2017-18. WDG Report Card Coalition. Last updated August 2, 2018. LimitationsThe WDG Youth Survey collects self-reported data and is subject to response and recall bias.
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[1] Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. (2012). Canadian physical activity, and sedentary behaviour guidelines. Ottawa, ON: Available at: http://www.csep.ca/cmfiles/guidelines/csep_guidelines_handbook.pdf
[2] Education Quality Accountability Office (EQAO). (2015). The assessments. Toronto, ON: Available at: http://www.eqao.com/en/assessments