Gender and education differences in sedentary behaviour in Canada: an analysis of national cross-sectional surveys

BACKGROUND: Canadians spend the majority of their days sedentary. Gender and education are important social determinants of health that impact health behaviours. There is evidence that gender and educational differences in sedentary behaviour exist. In Canada, while general trends suggest that leisure sedentary activities have changed; there has been no comprehensive assessment examining whether historical changes in sedentary behaviour differ by gender and education level. Our objective was to examine whether gender and educational differences in accelerometer-measured sedentary time and self-reported sedentary behaviours exist among Canadians and if differences are consistent across age groups, over time and across multiple survey sources. METHODS: We summarize amounts of total accelerometer-measured sedentary time and self-reported sedentary activities (e.g., passive travel, television, computer, video games, screen, reading) by age (i.e. children: 6–11 years, youth: 12–17 years, adults: 18–34 years, 45–49 years, 50–64 years, and older adults: ≥ 65 years), gender (girls/women, boys/men) and household education level (< post-secondary vs. ≥ post-secondary) over time in the Canadian Community Health Survey, Canadian Health Measures Survey, General Social Survey, and the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study. Gender and education level differences are examined using independent sample t-tests or chi-square analyses. RESULTS: While few differences were found for total accelerometer-measured sedentary time, gender and education differences in self-reported, type-specific sedentary behaviour were identified. Among youth, data from all surveys consistently identified that boys engaged in more video/computer game play (e.g., boys: 0.35–2.68 vs. girls: 0.09–2.15 h/day), while girls engaged in more leisure reading (e.g., boys: 0.45–0.65 vs. girls: 0.71–0.99 h/day). Those with a higher education or household education often reported more leisure reading and passive travel. Education level differences in screen time were often age dependent, with leisure computer use greater in higher education groups in adults only and leisure television watching generally higher in lower education groups in children and adults, but not youth. CONCLUSIONS: This information is valuable as it helps to identify segments of the population which may be at greater risk for engaging in higher volumes of sedentary behaviour. In turn, this information can identify target audiences and behaviours for policies and interventions. Future work is needed to further understand factors contributing to these differences (e.g., preferences, occupation, family structure).