Leisure Mapping Essay

The activities performed for leisure are divided into two categories; passive leisure time and active leisure time. The department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2013) defines passive leisure time as the time spent on rudimentary activities that require minimal mental and physical exertion. In contrast, active leisure time is the time spent on leisurely activities that require the use of physical or mental abilities such as playing sports or socializing. For the purpose of clarity, the term active leisure time will be referred to as recreation time in this paper as both terms encompasses similar meanings. From Sunday, January 6th to Saturday, January 12th, a large portion of my time was spent sleeping, attending classes or studying. On average, roughly eighteen hours per day were spent performing these activities this particular week. Leisure time occupied roughly twenty-two hours of the week with an average of three hours per day. This time map indicates that I am fortunate enough to have ample time for relaxation and leisure every day of the week. Similarly, time for recreational and physical activities occupied seventeen hours of the week with an average of two and a half hours per day. The Public Health Agency of Canada (2012) suggests that adults aged from eighteen to sixty-four years old should be performing moderate to intense activities at least two and a half hours per week to achieve health benefits. According to the time map, two and a half hours were spent every single day being moderately to rigorously active, indicating that I have a fairly active lifestyle.
A major sociocultural factor that allows me to have sufficient time for leisurely and recreational activities is the fact that I am male. Men tend to have more access to and have a greater participation rate in sports and physical activity in general. The Get Active Report Toronto (2013) states, fifty percent of girls are inactive compared to twenty-seven percent of boys.