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Top five most frequently reported favourite activities of children aged 4-12 years, as reported by parents or carers, by sex of child, NSW, 2001 (per cent of parents or carers)

Males

Females

Notes: Figure based on 6,473 respondents. The question "What is [child]’s favourite activity when not at school or in day care?” was asked of parents or carers. 

Source: NSW Child Health Survey 2001. Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health (unpublished data).

Comment

The type of activity most commonly reported by parents or carers varied with the sex of the child.

Sport was nominated as a favourite activity for a greater proportion of boys than girls (30.0% compared with 12.8%). This was also found for watching television, videos, movies or using computers (21.0% compared with 10.7%).

For girls, the top activity was playing (24.9%) followed by sport (12.8%).

Girls had a more diverse range of favourite activities than boys. The top five activities for girls accounted for 68.7% of responses, while for boys they accounted for 89.0%.