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Television and leisure time in children of the Alt Emporda

Abstract:

Aims. To study the parental evaluation of the leisure time distribution and TV use in the children of the Alt Emporda, as well as to investigate differences between urban and rural areas. Methods. Data concerning children aged 3 to 15 years were collected during the months of March and April of 1995, using a survey distributed among their parents. Results. The mean time spent watching TV was 1.2 hours/day during school days, and 3.5 hours/day during weekends. The following showed a positive association with age: time spent watching TV, time spent doing homework, and time spent on physical and other extracurricular activities. Significant differences were found in the weekly time spent watching TV between the urban (7.9 hours) and rural areas (10.4 hours). Conclusions. The mean time spent watching TV by the children of our area seems to be less than that reported by other studies, and is dependent on the environment, urban or rural, among other variables.