Canadian Teens Spend as Much as 7 Hours a Day in Front of a TV or Computer Screen

Researchers at Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have just released the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) results. Among the findings of the survey of students from grades 7 to 12 include:

• 30% report elevated feelings of psychological distress (Anxiety, depression etc.)
• 25% of students are overweight or obese
• 8.5% reported no physical activity in the 7 days prior to being surveyed
• 14% reported poor overall physical health (a substantial increase from 1990 levels)
• 10% reported spending, on average, 7 or more hours in front of a computer or TV screen each day
• 34% had not seen a doctor, for any reason, in the past year
• 43% had gambled within the past year

Although CAMH researchers aren’t drawing any causal conclusions, it’s hard to ignore the likely relationship between significant rates of teen obesity and as much as 7 hours a day spent sitting in front of a TV or computer screen.