By: Amanda Newman
Date: November 2002

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Krystle Robertson, a 17 year-old high school student from Oshawa, Ontario says television hasn't affected time she spends on homework; she just does it all at the same time.

"I try to do my homework while I watch TV. Usually I do it during the commercials though," she says.

Robertson said she watches approximately two hours of television per day.

Data to represent the past four year has not yet been released by Stats Canada.

In a poll conducted by the Canadian Paediatrics Society, 78 per cent of Canadians think children spend too much time sitting still, including too much time in front of the television and the computer.

The poll surveyed 2,014 adults in March 2002.

The poll also suggests that the time spent sitting still could be dangerous for children in the end.

"The poll results suggest that while Canadians realize children and youth need to be physically active, they may not be fully aware of the dangers of this inactivity, given that more than half of Canadian children are not active enough for optimal growth and development," said Dr. Claire LeBlanc, chair of the CPS advisory Committee on Healthy and Active Living, in a CPS news release. "Somehow there is a disconnect between what Canadians understand to be necessary for children's health and what they are doing to see that it happens."

Candice Cartier, communications assistant for the Canadian Paediatrics Society, recommends the following articles for more in-depth information about children and television:

)(Establish ground rules for TV watching, CPS urges parents)(
)(Promoting good television habits)(
)(Children and the media )(