Fifteen-year-old Sierra Templeton was walking in The Gateway mall with a friend on Friday, celebrating the end of the school year and enjoying the sun.
But, she admits, she typically spends four to five hours a day using a computer — using most of that time for homework, but also browsing sites such as Facebook.
The amount of time Utah teens spend bonding with their screens has increased, according to a 2011 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the biannual Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
The number of Utah kids spending more than three hours a day on a computer jumped by over 6 percent — from 12.1 percent in 2009 to 18.7 percent in 2011.
Still, they rank lower than the national average, which is 31.1 percent.
Patrice Isabella, a dietician with the Utah Department of Health, said the increase in time spent on computers is reducing many adolescents' levels of physical activity.
"With the growing trend of social media, kids are pulling up multiple screens instead of getting up and walking over to go talk to a friend," she said.
Two other teens in the Salt Lake City mall, DJ Collard and Natalie Nester, both 15, estimated they spend between two and three hours a day on a computer — which they prefer to watching TV because "there is way more to do."
But Sierra's friend, Tess Wunderlich, 16, spends far less time looking at a computer screen — thanks to limits set by her family.
She said she spends an hour on Facebook every day during the school year. "Even if I don't have notifications or anything," Wunderlich said, "I'll still get on there and check anyway."
And her parents restrict computer time to 30 minutes a day during the summer. "Probably so we can spend more time and exercise and not be couch potatoes," she said.
Isabella said less exercise among teens and adolescents is leading to more cases of obesity, particularly in adolescent males.
And with more computer time comes cyberbullying. In Utah, 16.6 percent or 1,703 high schoolers, said they had been cyberbullied in the 12 months before the survey. That number is just above the 16.2 percent national average.
Kids were not asked about cyberbullying in 2009.
Utah's results also showed teens' diet and exercise habits are less healthy than the national average, by some measures.
Higher numbers of Utah youth said they consume fruit less than three times a day, attend physical education classes fewer than five days a week on average and are physically active 60 minutes a day less than seven days a week.
Utah does not require physical fitness classes like other states, which may have contributed to the result.
But teens are eating more vegetables. In 2009, 88.4 percent admitted to eating fewer than three servings of veggies a day; in 2011, the number decreased to 84.7 percent, even with the national average.
Isabella said this figure is still high, likely due to busy family schedules and less opportunities to eat meals as a family.
She also said adolescents generally don't reach for fruits or vegetables first because other options abound.
"It's like when you go to a ballpark, you don't eat a salad," Isabella said. "You eat a hot dog."
The study found that Utah teens used alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at significantly lower rates than their peers across the country, though their prescription drug use ranked even with the national average.
Utah does not question students about sexual behaviors. They also were not asked about texting and driving. Nationally, 33 percent of teens surveyed said they had texted or e-mailed on their phones while driving in the last 30 days.
Utah results at a glance
R 18.7 percent • of teens surveyed used their computers for more than three hours a day.
16.6 percent • had been cyberbullied in the past 12 months.
81.3 percent • ate fruit less than three times a day.
84.7 percent • ate vegetables less than three times a day.
To see the full results, visit cdc.gov.
