Leisure Activities of Healthy Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to give a detailed overview on the leisure behavior of adolescents (frequency, differences between gender, age groups and social class, time trends, and inter-relations). In total, 1449 10- to 18-year-old German adolescents were included in the study. Participants answered questionnaires about their media use, physical activity, outdoor time, engagement in choir/orchestra and theater/dancing, social life and socio-economic status (SES). The results revealed that girls, children with lower SES as well as older children reported to use screen-based media more often and that girls, older children and children with lower SES were less physically active. In addition, boys and children with lower SES engaged less frequently in choir/orchestra and theater/dancing, while children with higher SES met their friends more often. The time trend analysis showed that mobile phone use increased drastically from 2011 to 2017, while engagement in choir/orchestra and theater/dancing decreased. Regarding the inter-relation between leisure activities, high screen times were significantly associated with less physical activity and less outdoor time. Physical activity, in contrast, was significantly related to better social life and more outdoor time. These findings highlight the growing importance of electronic media in adolescents’ lives and their tendency to displace other leisure activities.