Average Amount of Screen Time of Children by Province

Question

I'm looking for the average amount of screen time of children by province.

Any suggestions, please?

Answer

The CCHS 2007-2008 public use microdata file includes variables related to Sedentary Activities (SAC) (e.g. number of hours on a computer, playing video games, watching television/videos, etc.), age range variables and province-level variables which could be of interest to your client. Your client may wish to have a look at the survey's documentation and the description of the SAC related variables to determine if they are appropriate for his/her project.

The following Health Reports article includes Canada-level statistics on screen time of children and youth that may be of interest to your client.

Shields, Margot. Overweight and obesity among children and youth. Health Reports. vol. 17 no. 3

Abstract: "More than a quarter - 26% - of 2- to 17-year-olds were overweight or obese in 2004. Low consumption of vegetables and fruit was associated with excess weight among this age group. As screen time (watching TV, playing video games, using a computer) increased, so did the likelihood that young people would be overweight/obese." http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=82-003-X20050039277

The following CANSIM table has provincial data on children's participation in sedentary activities by age group and sex and may also be of interest to your client:

CANSIM Table 105-2005 Children's participation in sedentary activities, in hours per week, by age group and sex, household population aged 12 to 17, Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 2.2, Canada and provinces, occasional

Data on screen time of children may also be available for a fee on a custom basis. If your client wishes to look into this option, we will refer your client to an Account-Executive who can confirm what types of tables could be produced and at what cost.

I hope that this information is helpful. If you have other questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Survey Data Related to Risks of Early Motherhood

Question

A researcher here at York is interested in information on experiences of motherhood among adolescent girls in child welfare and or youth justice. Specifically, she is interested in recent survey data dealing with risks and health outcomes of early motherhood for this vulnerable population. We spent some time searching this morning, looking for these kinds of data, and managed to find some elements of it in the CCHS and NPHS, but nothing quite like what she really wants. Since it's entirely possible we missed something, is there someone in STC with whom she could discuss this in greater detail?

Answer

To the best of my knowledge, StatCan hasn't published or collected data on this specific topic. We have a number of publications on teenage pregnancy and its outcomes but these aren't specifically on adolescent girls in child welfare and youth services. The following articles and reference guide are the closest matches as I know of and may be of interest to the researcher. If she has specific questions about these publications and the data on which they are based, I would be pleased to consult the authors and divisions that published these products to obtain additional information for her or refer her to them directly if this would be more helpful.

Teenage pregnancy: Guide to the latest information
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/search-recherche/bb/info/3000020-eng.htm

The reference guide includes links to these publications:

Life after teenage motherhood
Perspectives on Labour and Income, May 2008, Catalogue no. 75-001-XWE, Vol. 9, No. 5.

Second or subsequent births to teenagers
Health Reports, February 2007, Catalogue no. 82-003-XWE, Vol. 18, No. 1.

Teenage pregnancy
Health Reports, Winter 2000, Catalogue no. 82-003-XIE, Vol. 12, No. 1.

I will have a closer look at the documentation for a few more surveys to see if I can locate sources that would cover this specific topic and will follow up with more information shortly.