Hiking on Bruce Peninsula

Know the Facts

Getting just 10% of people living in Canada to move more would:

  • Increase workplace productivity
  • Decrease absenteeism
  • Inject a minimum of $1.6 billion into the economy
  • Reduce health-care spending on chronic disease by $2.6 billion3
Local Grey-Bruce Statistics

22%

of Grey Bruce residents have high blood pressure (17% for Ontario)

79%

of youth deaths are caused by motor vehicles crashes in Grey-Bruce (33% higher than the province)

48%

of Grey-Bruce residents are inactive, almost half the population

61% of deaths in grey bruce are from Cardiovascular disease

Chronic Disease Mortality Snapshot | Public Health Ontario Chronic Disease Mortality Snapshot PHU/LHIN (2003 to 2015)

For school-related sedentary behaviour exposure categories, active lessons were overwhelmingly beneficial for health and well-being over school-related sedentary behaviours.

Active lessons are appealing since they simultaneously displace sedentary time and focus on educational pursuits. Evidence suggests that active lessons could improve children’s time on task behaviours or attention during class. Additionally, no difference in content recall was observed when comparing content delivered through active lessons or traditional sedentary classroom conditions, suggesting that active lessons do not take away from learning objectives and could in fact enhance learning.

School-related sedentary behaviours and indicators of health and well-being among children and youth: a systematic review 2022

16.5% of children met the screen time guideline of 2 hours/day at the start of the pandemic

  • 3% of youth met the screen time recommendation at the start of the pandemic.
Downloads
Canadian Activity Guidelines

Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines released by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and ParticipACTION.

Healthy Kids Report Card

The Healthy Kids Report Card offers the most comprehensive annual assessment of child and youth physical activity in Canada.

Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines

For health benefits, youth aged 12–17 years should minimize the time they spend being sedentary each day. See report for details.

Canadian Statistics

Physical inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor for global mortality

Source:  World Health Organization (2010). Global Recommendations of Physical Activity for Health. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BOOKS/NBK305049/
Activity Guidelines

Only 28% of kids and teens (5-17 years) are meeting national physical guidelines  of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day

Roberts et al. (2019). Meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/N1/EN/PUB/82-003-X/2017010/ARTICLE/54875-ENG.PDF?ST=XLX-FQD6

Canadian Health Measures Survey

Less than one in five Canadian adults met the current Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, which recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of MVPA per week, accumulated in bouts of 10 minutes or more

Statistics Canada (2019). Accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of Canadian adults, 2007 to 2017 Retrieved from  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2019008/article/00001-eng.pdf?st=e2ndoQal

Screen Time

Only 18% of 5- to 17-years-olds are meeting the 2-hour recommendation of recreational screen-viewing per day.4

Pandemic impact

The majority of adults (48%) indicated that they are participating in less activity (somewhat or much less) at sport and recreation facilities compared to their typical behaviour prior to the pandemic, while 20% indicated the same amount and only 4% noted an increase (somewhat or much more activity). CFLRI, Impact of COVID-19 on Physical Activity Survey, 2020-2021). Retrieved from Participaction Adult Report Card 2021

Generations

Only 28% of kids in Canada (5-17 years) are meeting national physical activity guidelines

  • This is a drop of 11% from the previous Report Card.

More than half of Canadians are considered inactive.

CFLRI. (2008). Results of the 2008 Physical Activity and Sport Monitor

The benefits of physical activity are undisputed by health professionals. A few of the many positives include:

FITNESS & MORTALITY

Fit individuals who are defined obese have a lower risk of all-cause mortality than do unfit normal-weight or lean individuals. Fit adults outlived the unfit regardless of their obesity levels or weight.13

Environments

Safety concerns are the leading reason why people choose not to walk
or cycle, meaning road design that provides safe environments for all
users is essential. Retrieved from Global status report on physical activity 2022 (who.int)

Priorities

Indigenous and newcomer youth had even larger decreases, going from 67% and 56% pre-pandemic, respectively, to 38% and 35% during the pandemic.

The direct and indirect costs associated with physical inactivity were estimated at $5.3 billion in 2001.

Source: Katzmarzyk, P. T., & Janssen. (2004). The economic costs associated with physical inactivity and obesity in Canada: An update. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 29(1) 90-115

According to the Conference Board of Canada in 2010, we could save $76 billion over the next ten years by tackling the five main risk factors for heart disease: smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure and lack of fruit and vegetable consumption.15

Accessibility