Study busts myth of TV's link to childhood obesity
Television and computer games are not to blame for children playing less sport, contrary to popular belief, a major Australian study has found.
Rather, family stability is far more important in determining whether kids are active or not.
The new research by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that children who played sport or danced also watched between 10 and 20 hours a week of television and played an average of seven hours a week of computer games.
The internet was not a problem either as children were even more likely to be active if they had access to a computer at home.
The growing tendency for children to clock up hours of screen time indoors instead of running around outside has been heavily blamed for the nation's epidemic of childhood obesity.
But study author Mike Stratton said the ABS research showed there was no reason children couldn't spend time using electronic media, as long as they balanced it with physical activity.
"This study is a challenge for a lot of people. It's a bit of a mythbuster," he said.
"There's no doubt that screen-based activities do compete for a child's time. But if you want to look at the reasons why they are really not participating [in sport], it's more to do with socioeconomics."
The single biggest factor influencing a child's lack of involvement in sport was having unemployed parents, the study showed.
This was followed by having parents born in a non-English speaking country, and having low socio-economic status.
Children were more likely to play sport if they were in a higher socio-economic bracket, if they were involved in cultural activities such as music, singing and drama and if both their parents were employed.
The amount of time spent watching television or computer games was either not significant or only slightly influenced rates of sporting activity.
Mr Stratton, who presented the results at the Australian Social Policy Conference last week, said the results suggested family stability might be the key factor that separated active from inactive children.
"When a family has a regular income there is security, and that family can settle into a routine," he said.
"It means mum or dad can take the kids to Saturday morning, or Wednesday evening sport."
Mr Stratton said the cost of club fees, uniforms, equipment and dance lessons might also dissuade low-income parents from enrolling their children in activities.
He said the move to incorporate sport into after-school care was the best way of ensuring all children got a fair chance to be active.
This year, the Australian Sports Commission began its Active After-school Communities Program to address the problem of childhood obesity after research found half of children aged five to 14 spent more time in front of a screen than in the classroom.