Maximum mediation

A new study by Ball State University shows that Americans spend more time using mediation devices—phones, iPods, computers, TVs, etc—than we spend doing anything else. About nine hours per day. Other key findings:

About 30 percent of the observed waking day was spent with media as the sole activity versus 20.8 percent for work activity, while an additional 39 percent of the day was spent with media while involved in some other activity

In any given hour no less than 30 percent of those studied were engaged in some way with television, and in some hours of the day that figure rose to 70 percent

While television is still by far the dominant medium in terms of the time average Americans spend daily with media at 240.9 minutes, the computer has emerged as the second most significant media device at about 120 minutes

About 30 percent of all media time is spent exposed to more than one medium at a time

People ages 18 to 24 spend less time online than any other age group except those older than 65

Levels of concurrent media exposure were higher among those 40 to 65 than people 18 to 39

Women spend more time multitasking with two or more types of media than men

Use of the Web, e-mail and phones is substantially higher on Fridays than any other day of the week

Meanwhile, on the fat front, a Boston U study shows that 9 out of 10 American men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight. After following 4,000 people for three decades, the research indicates that obesity in America is a far bigger problem than first thought.