40% of Catalan children under 14 spend over two hours a day on screens

Nearly 40% of children aged 3 to 14 in Catalonia spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen, according to the 2024 Catalonia Health Survey (ESCA), published on Friday.

Screen-time rates are higher among children from disadvantaged backgrounds (43.9%) than among those from wealthier households (30.6%).

However, time spent on phones, television, computers or videogames is lower than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it reached 52.7%.

Boys also spend more time in front of screens than girls: 42.6% of boys exceed the two-hour mark, compared with an average of 36.4% among girls.

Another key conclusion of the survey is that, after years of decline, active play, such as sports or outdoor games in parks and streets, has increased.

Now, 35.7% of children aged 3 to 14 engage in at least one hour of such activities per day.

Here too, a gender gap persists: over 40% of boys take part in active play daily, compared with just over 30% of girls.

There is also a territorial disparity. Children living in Barcelona city show significantly lower levels of active leisure than those in the rest of Catalonia, with only 28% achieving an hour of daily activity.

Depression and smoking down, obesity up

Among the adult population, the survey found that half of people aged 18 to 74 have excess weight: 36% are overweight and 16% are obese.

Depressive symptoms have fallen among people over 15, affecting nearly 6% of the population, down from almost 11% in 2022.

However, 22% of the population reports having experienced anxiety at least once in their lives, and 16% within the past 12 months.

Smoking has reached its lowest recorded level, with 21% of the population smoking, 26% of men and 17% of women.