Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Heart and Stroke Foundation
Teens at High Risk as Canada Fails for Third Consecutive Year
Active Healthy Kids Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity shows little improvement, deepening problems
TORONTO, ON (June 27, 2007) – Active
Healthy Kids Canada today released its 2007
Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and
Youth, and with it comes a warning that Canadian
youth are at a crisis point. The annual Report
Card, which grades Canada at a ‘D’ for the third
straight year, indicates that physical activity levels
have reached an all time low among Canadian
teens, and are declining among young people in
general. The Report Card calls for immediate
action to empower youth to get active in ways that
are meaningful to them.
The Report Card closely examines physical
activity opportunities for children and youth where
they live, learn and play. In addition to
highlighting decreased rates of physical activity
and increases in screen time, the 2007 Report
Card notes a troubling association between
sedentary behaviours and increased reports of
anxiety, depression and low self-esteem among
adolescents.
“Three straight years of poor grades should give all
Canadians a major wake up call, especially since
we now know that children become less and less
active as they get older” says Dr. Mark Tremblay,
Chair, Active Healthy Kids Canada. “The good
news is that we can identify immediate areas for
improvement; we know that a majority of kids are
sedentary during the after–school hours, so this is
a great time to encourage them to get
moving.”
Despite growing awareness of the severity and
consequences of childhood inactivity, physical
activity levels scored the lowest grade on the 2007
Report Card, dropping from a D to an F. This
failing grade indicates a strong need to establish
and continually reinforce support for physical
activity opportunities throughout society.
“The decline in physical activity among children
and especially youth has far-reaching implications
on the future health of our country,” says Stephen
Samis, director of health policy for the Heart and
Stroke Foundation of Canada. “After three
consecutive years of D’s, Canadian families,
communities, schools and governments need to
act now to reverse this trend and ensure that this
generation isn’t the first that will not live to the
same age as their parents.”
Progress on the recommendations set forth in the
2006 Report Card has been encouraging, though
somewhat limited. The federal government has
responded to the recommendation to increase
public awareness for parents through reviving
programs like ParticipACTION, and adding
physical activity recommendations to Canada’s
new Food Guide. Alberta and Ontario have
specifically addressed the recommendation for
increasing school-based physical activity by
introducing Daily Physical Activity policies, and
Manitoba announced mandatory Physical
Education for Grades 11 and 12. Unfortunately,
the recommendation to reduce screen time has
seen no improvement, with children and youth still
logging up to 6 hours per day of screen time.
“It’s good to see an increase in the amount of
attention and profile that all levels of government
have given to this issue, but it’s not enough.” said
Dr. Tremblay. “As we gather more comprehensive
information, we’re seeing that the problem is even
worse than we thought - and it’s no longer just
risking kids’ physical health, it’s compromising their
emotional health as well.”
2007 Recommendations for Action
The 2007 Report Card identifies three
recommendations that build upon those set forth
in 2006.
- Engage and empower youth – with
physical activity levels at their lowest point ever
among teens, we must work directly with youth to
find activities that will motivate and engage them
into participating.
- Target the after school hours – research
confirms that the six hour period after school is a
danger zone. Parents, schools and communities
need to work harder to provide options for
meaningful, physical activity opportunities during
these hours.
- Continue to improve the research and
measurement process – the more we refine our
methods of assessing physical activity levels, the
more accurate we can be about where we are and
where we need to be.
About the Report Card
Active Healthy Kids Canada has taken the lead in
developing an annual Report Card to provide an
ongoing comprehensive assessment of how
Canada is collectively demonstrating its
responsibility in providing physical activity
opportunities for children and youth. All three
annual Report Cards gave Canada a “D”, and
called upon leaders in the public and private
sectors to support families in helping their kids
become more physically active.
Active Healthy Kids Canada
Active Healthy Kids Canada was established as a
charitable organization in 1994 to advocate the
importance of physical activity for children and
youth where they live, learn, and play. As a
national leader in this area, Active Healthy Kids
Canada provides expertise and direction to
decision-makers at all levels, from policy-makers to
parents, in order to increase the attention given to,
investment in, and effective implementation of
physical activity opportunities for all Canadian
children and youth.
To view the 2007 Report Card online, visit
www.activehealthykids.ca.
For more information:
Will Lamont/Stephanie Hurley
Trillium Corporate Communications Inc.
416-322-3030 ext 241 / 231
will@trilliumpr.com /
stephanie@trilliumpr.com
Shannon Boyd
Active Healthy Kids Canada
O: 416-426-7297 / C: 416-528-5494
shannon@activehealthykids.ca.
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