Which do you prefer? TV or sex?
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-17 14:57

When it comes to sex and romance, aging Canadian baby boomers spend a lot more time watching television or surfing the net, according to a new study.

The survey by pollsters Ipsos Reid, commissioned by Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra, found that Canadians between the ages of 40 and 64 spend an average of 15 minutes a day on sex and romance, but can spend as much as five hours a day watching TV or surfing the Internet.

"Later in life, you have a different perspective of what sex is all about," John Wright, an Ipsos Reid spokesman, said on Thursday.

Of 2,500 people surveyed, more than half said they were often too tired to have sex, while 42 percent said they were too stressed out and 40 percent said they did not have time.

Around half of the respondents said when they do have sex it is intimate and tender.

Wright said another yet-to-be released study found that 37 percent of Canadians over 55 prefer a good night of sex to a good night of sleep, indicating that sex is still important to that age group.

"I think the last two decades have opened up sexuality as far as (older) couples engaging in a variety of sexual activities," he said. "There's been much more openness about this... sex shops abound."

Linda Proulx, owner of Winnipeg, Manitoba's Love Nest boutiques, said the boomers' preference for watching TV is not such a bad thing. She said many of her customers are baby boomers and senior citizens who have taken a cue from television and decided to rejuvenate their sex life.

"People are spending time watching TV, but it is bringing them into our stores," she said, noting that more television shows have sexual themes. "They're buying the products to maybe help them engage in a more intimate or longer sex act because of something they've seen on TV."

The Ipsos Reid survey found that even though boomers are having less sex, only 28 percent say it is less enjoyable now than it was in their 20s, and more than 80 percent say sex makes them feel loved and appreciated.