Teens With More Screen Time Are Less Often Active: Ages 12–17, 2021–2023

Percentage of children and adolescents aged 12–17 who did 60 minutes of physical activity most days or every day, by daily hours of screen time, United States, July 2021–December 2023. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals. CDC, MMWR QuickStats.

From July 2021 to December 2023, 61.1% of U.S. children and adolescents aged 12–17 said they did 60 minutes of physical activity most days or every day.

The more time they spent in front of screens, the less likely they were to be that active:

How it was measured

The figures come from the National Health Interview Survey–Teen, run by the National Center for Health Statistics, a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. The teens reported for themselves.

• Physical activity: answering "most days or every day" to how often, in a typical school-year week, they exercised, played a sport or were physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
• Screen time: how many hours a day, on most weekdays, they spent in front of a TV, computer, cellphone or other electronic device — watching programs, playing games, using the internet or social media. Schoolwork did not count.

CDC's physical activity guidelines for children have more. The supplementary table gives the full estimates.

Sources

Based on Lindsey I. Black, Amanda E. Ng and Benjamin Zablotsky, "QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years Who Participated in 60 Minutes of Physical Activity Most Days or Every Day, by Daily Hours of Screen Time Use — United States, July 2021–December 2023," MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, volume 73, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.