Sport and art are taking second place with Australian children who are instead preferring to spend their time watching TV or reading.

Figures released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that children aged between five and 14 years spent around 22 hours a fortnight watching TV or videos out of school hours.

They also revealed that three quarters of children read for pleasure with girls spending an average of 8.6 hours a fortnight reading and boys an average of 7.1 hours. More than 70 per cent played electronic or computer games during the same period, boys for an average of nine hours and girls for 5.3 hours.

In contrast, the figures show that only 62 per cent of children participated in organised sport during their free time and a mere 29 per cent were involved in cultural activities such as playing a musical instrument, dancing, singing or drama activities outside of school hours.

But on a more positive note, the data - which is based on the activities of 8,900 children and was collected in April last year - shows that the percentage of children participating in sport has increased by two per cent since April 2000.

- David Adams