Charts by Topic: Leisure and sports activities

Leisure time on an average day
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  • On an average day, individuals age 15 and over spent half of their leisure time watching TV. (Data are from the 2006 survey).

Average hours spent per day in leisure and sports activities,by youngest and oldest populations
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  • Individuals age 75 and over spent more of their leisure time watching TV, reading, and relaxing and thinking than individuals ages 15 to 19. The younger age group spent more of its leisure time engaged in sports, exercise, and recreation and computer use. Individuals in both age groups spent about the same amount of time socializing and communicating. (Data are from the 2006 survey).

More findings from the 2006 survey:

  • Employed adults ages 25 to 54 who live in households without children (under age 18) engaged in leisure and sports activities for 4.3 hours, about 53 more minutes per day than employed adults living with a child under age 6.
  • On average, individuals spent 1.8 additional hours in leisure and sports activities on weekend days than weekdays. The biggest proportional gain was in socializing time; individuals spent double the time socializing and communicating on weekend days than on weekdays. In absolute terms, individuals increased their TV watching time by 45 minutes and their socializing time by 31 minutes on weekend days.
  • Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day, 20 versus 15 percent. Men also spent more time in sports activities on the days they participated, 2.0 versus 1.2 hours, respectively.
  • The sports, exercise, and recreation activities that were most frequently reported by participants were walking (28.3 percent), weightlifting/ strength training (11.7 percent), and using cardiovascular equipment (10.8 percent). The activities that participants engaged in the longest were golfing (3.3 hours), playing basketball (1.8 hours), and participating in water sports (1.7 hours).

 


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Household activities

Charts from the American Time Use Survey

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Last Modified Date: August 28, 2007