The way we work, play and drive

Southland boys are more happy with the amount of time they spend with mum and dad than 12 to 18-year-old males in other regions, but they would need to go to Canterbury to meet like-minded girls of the same age.

And they would need to be careful on the drive up there. At a rate of 711 per 100,000 people, Southland has the most injury-causing car crashes in New Zealand.

The figures appear in the Ministry of Social Development's Regional Indicators survey for 2005, and provide a snapshot of contemporary New Zealand.

The report is an accompaniment to last year's Social Report 2005, which uses social indicators to provide a picture of New Zealand's quality of life.

It shows that while Southland has the most injury-causing smashes, Northland has the greatest number of fatal accidents, at 23.6 per 100,000.

But worrying statistics are not confined to the extreme ends of the country.

Young Aucklanders age 5 to 17 could be the most lethargic, with 64 per cent engaged in 2 1/2 or more hours of sport or leisure-time physical activity each week, compared with 78 per cent of youngsters in the Tasman-Nelson-Marlborough region.

And those South Island young people are the most likely to carry their exercise habits into adulthood, with 71 per cent of those aged 18 and over in the top of the South Island getting more than 2 1/2 hours' leisure-time physical activity a week.

That's more than in Wellington, where 65 per cent of adults manage 2 1/2 or more hours' exercise weekly.

Canterbury boys, and girls in the Manawatu-Wanganui region, were least happy with their parent-contact time, with 59.5 per cent of the boys and 52.1 per cent of the girls saying they spent enough time with parents.

The report - surveying 9669 or 4 per cent of secondary students nationwide - did not show how much time either gender spent with mum and dad. Nor did it ask parents' opinions of the time they get to spend with the kids.

The report covers a range of subjects, from cigarette smoking and participation in early childhood education, to language retention and the amount of household telephone and internet connections.

Much of the data was gleaned from 2001 Census figures, and ministry officials do not expect to be able to update those statistics until early next year. But the second Regional Indicators report, scheduled for release in July, will feature new statistics for 10 indicators, including smoking numbers, median hourly earnings and voter turnout. Latest employment trends are also due in the updated report, along with more historical data.

Anxious southerners will also find out in July whether Southland is still the worst place for non-fatal car crash injuries.