The bar chart illustrates the percentages of children in a European country who participated in four different activities in 2009, with the figures divided into three age groups: 5-8, 9-11 and 12-15 years old.
Overall, watching television was the most popular activity among the youngest children, whereas riding bicycles was considerably more common among the oldest group. Reading comics showed relatively little variation across the three age categories, while playing video games became noticeably less popular as children grew older.
Approximately 95% of children aged 5-8 watched television, compared with 80% of both the 9-11 and 12-15 age groups. Reading comics attracted around 60% of the youngest children, while the corresponding figures for the two older groups were slightly higher, at approximately 65%.
A different pattern can be observed for video games. Around 60% of 5-8-year-olds participated in this activity, followed by just under 60% of those aged 9-11. However, the figure fell substantially to about 40% among 12-15-year-olds. In contrast, cycling became increasingly popular with age. Approximately 67% of the youngest children rode bicycles, compared with 60% of those aged 9-11. Among teenagers aged 12-15, however, the proportion rose sharply to around 82%, making cycling their most popular activity