For the third straight year, Active Healthy Kids Canada has given the country a "D" in its annual Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth
The report card finds that not only has there been no improvement in physical activity levels among Canadian teens, the levels have sunk to an all-time low and are declining among young people in general.
At the same time, kids are spending more time in front of the television, either watching TV, movies or playing video games. Kids aged 10 to 16 years are logging up to six hours per day in front of a screen -- about twice as much time as they spend in physical activity.
The 2007 Report Card also 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, the chair of Active Healthy Kids Canada.
"It's disappointing and tiresome to continually report we are failing our kids. We are facilitating their cocooning into microenvironments, where sitting idle in front of a screen is the most seductive thing to do. And it's winning out."
Tremblay says there have been some improvements since last year. 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.
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Alberta and Ontario have both responded to 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.
But parents are not stepping up to the plate as well, with the report card noting that the majority of kids remain sedentary during the after-school hours. Tremblay says 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.
The report card found that while nearly all parents reported that their children were very physically active, the research clearly indicates that fewer than half of Canadian children and youth are active enough to ensure healthy growth and development.
Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth recommends 90 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
With research suggesting that parents who consider themselves to be less active than their peers often have children who prefer sedentary activity, parents need to get more active themselves, to set a good example.
The report is being released just as many kids begin their summer vacation -- ironcially, a time where studies show that kids become the least active and gain the most weight.
Active Healthy Kids Canada is a non-profit group that advocates the importance of physical activity for children and youth.
