The bar chart depicts the proportion of Australian children in three distinct age groups (5–8, 9–11, and 12–16 years old) who engaged in four different leisure activities in 2012.
Overall, watching television was the most prevalent activity among all age groups, whereas participation in art activities was the least widespread. Moreover, the data reveals that interest in reading and cycling generally increased with age, particularly among adolescents.
In terms of TV viewing, the participation rate was consistently high across all groups, rising progressively from approximately 90% among 5–8-year-olds, to 95% in 9–11-year-olds, and peaking at around 98% for those aged 12–16. In contrast, engagement in art showed a declining trend: nearly 60% of the youngest group took part, but this figure dropped steadily to about 55% and just above 45% for the two older groups, respectively.
Reading, on the other hand, garnered increasing interest with age. While just over 60% of the youngest children participated in reading activities, this rose to slightly above 70% for both the 9–11 and 12–16 age brackets. As for riding bicycles, participation was notably high among 5–8-year-olds at around 80%, fell to approximately 62% in the middle group, but then rebounded to over 80% among 12–16-year-olds.