Aussie Kids Have Got the Right Balance!!!

Australian kids spend equal amount of time indoors with their electronic devices and outdoors playing.

A research conducted by the Government media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, has revealed that Australian kids spend equal amount of time indoors with their electronic devices and outdoors playing.

The study showed that kids spend the same amount of time on gizmos as they did 10 years ago. The children ranked outdoor activities and hanging out with friends well above sitting in front of the TV.

For the research, Media and Communications in Australian Families 2007 surveyed 751 households with children aged between eight and 17.

The survey revealed that 99 percent have a television and almost a third are hooked up to pay-TV.

According to the report, children spent 51 percent of their free time engaging in their four favourite pursuits, which focus around outdoor activities and being with other people.

Watching TV ranked fifth which was followed by reading/drawing, listening to recorded music and playing video or computer games.

The study found that the children spent the other 49 percent of their free time using electronic devices such as TVs, iPods, mobile phones, computers and gaming devices.

Since a 1995 report produced by the former Australian Broadcasting Authority the proportion of time spent on physical activity and with friends has not changed among the kids.

Authority chairman Chris Chapman said that the young people’s ability to 'multi-task' was baffling.

'Their ability to actually fit in nine hours, 10, 11 or 12 hours into the traditional seven hours of discretionary time is a marvel of the modern world,' theage.com.au quoted Chapman, as saying.

Source-ANI
LIN/P