Notes

This is Healthy New Jersey 2020 (HNJ2020) Objective NF-4. Survey is conducted in odd-numbered years only. ** 2015 and 2017 NJ survey data not available.

Data Source

High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm]

Data Interpretation Issues

In 2015 and 2017, the New Jersey Student Health Survey was unable to obtain the number of student responses needed to reach the 60% response rate required by the CDC to be able to weight the data to be representative of the New Jersey high school student population.

Definition

The percentage of students who did not watch television, play video or computer games, or use a computer (except for school work) for 3 or more hours per day on an average school day

Numerator

The number of students who did not watch television, play video or computer games, or use a computer (except for school work) for 3 or more hours per day on an average school day

Denominator

The total number of survey respondents

Healthy People Objective: Increase the proportion of children and adolescents who view television, videos, or play video games for no more than 2 hours a day: Adolescents in grades 9 through 12

U.S. Target: 73.9 percent
State Target: 74.1 percent for TV and 78.2 percent for computer

Other Objectives

'''Healthy New Jersey 2020 Objective NF-4:''' Reduce screen time among high school students. *'''NF-4a''': Increase the proportion who watch TV for no more than 2 hours a day to 74.1% among the total population, 82.6% among Whites, 50.2% among Blacks, and 63.9% among Hispanics. *'''NF-4b''': Increase the proportion who use the computer for no more than 2 hours a day to 78.2% among the total population, 82.2% among Whites, 70.3% among Blacks, and 76.6% among Hispanics.

How Are We Doing?

Screen time among high school students is increasing rather than decreasing, as desired. Decreases in television viewing time have been offset by increases in time spent playing video and computer games and using the internet.