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Addressing Obesity & Physical Inactivity in Children: National Study Shows it Can Be Done |
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Addressing Obesity & Physical Inactivity in Children: National Study Shows it Can Be Done
March 3 2005
(Yahoo.ca)
A study released on March 3rd showed that Canadian children can achieve healthy levels of daily physical activity, regardless of socio-economic status, if parents and teachers encourage the principles laid out in Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth.
Evaluated for the first time since the Guides were released in 2002, the tools showed significant promise and sustained usability in Canadian schools where the resources were adopted for use.
“The Guides, produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), call for 90 minutes per day of accumulated physical activity," said the Hon. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of State (Public Health). "Achieving improvements in the physical activity levels of our children and youth is critical to their overall health and quality of life, and important to containing health-care costs and sustaining Canada's health-care system into the future," she said.
The study evaluated the usability of the Guides and teacher-support materials in 65 schools across the provinces and the Yukon. Teachers were given copies of Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Youth, a teacher's guide, a student interactive magazine, a family guide and pedometers to use with grade five and six students over a two-week period. Students were asked to keep a daily log of their physical activity, and were helped by their teachers to think of creative ways to be physically active.
Half of the students received pedometers in the first week, and the other half received pedometers in the second week, to monitor their activity on a daily basis. At the end of the two-week period, pedometer counts of over 5,400 student days were reported. The children typically accumulated over 12,000 steps on the weekdays and closer to 10,000 steps on the weekends.
"This means that we should not underestimate the importance of schools to provide physical activity opportunities for children," said Dr. Phil Gardiner, Canadian Institute of Health Research Chair in Physical Activity and Health, and CSEP spokesperson. "The same trends applied to rural and urban schools, and there was no statistically significant difference across the provinces or the Yukon."
The study showed that five months following the two-week study period, 70 per cent of the same teachers involved reported using some combination of the Guide, supplementary materials or pedometers in their classes. The students' daily logs showed they each had found different ways to remain physically active and still be in school all day.
"It is noteworthy that, when the Guide and the supplements were used alone by the teachers, the perceived student enjoyment of the physical activity regime was quite high at 70 per cent," added Dr. Mike Sharratt, Dean of Applied Health Science at the University of Waterloo and one of the co-authors of the study. "Not surprisingly, perceived student enjoyment was even higher when pedometers were added as part of the teacher's toolkit."
Advocates working to increase physical activity levels among Canadian children and youth were encouraged by the Guide's demonstrated usability. "The study results show the Guides and companion support resources provide useful information for teachers and their students about the importance of regular, daily physical activity for all students throughout the school year," said Dr.Rick Bell, spokesperson for the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
"Given the inactivity and obesity crisis in this country, schools are to be commended for any efforts to increase physical activity opportunities for our children and youth," said Dr. Bell. "Children and youth need to be physically active whether this occurs in the physical education class, intramurals, school sports or at other times in the school day. These are all components of a quality school physical education program," Dr. Bell said.
Silken Laumann, former Canadian Olympic athlete and mother of two, now leads 'Silken's Active Kids Movement', an organization that promotes the power of play.
"Children spend 40 per cent less time being physically active than they did 15 years ago," said Laumann. "Play is an essential part of childhood that helps kids be at their best and helps build more caring communities. Silken's Active Kids encourages parents to start a walking school bus from their neighbourhood, supervise the cul-de-sac after dinner or start a Play in the Park Day. It's my belief that the more our children walk, run or bike
around our neighbourhoods and the more children play in our parks, the safer - and healthier - our communities will be," she said.
"Parents, teachers, health professionals, and all levels of government need to work together to normalize physical activity in children's lives; to teach them that daily physical activity is as important for their health as good nutrition and should be as routine as brushing their teeth and wearing a seat belt," said Laumann. "Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth are effective resources to help our kids develop knowledge and positive attitudes toward physical activity that will last a lifetime."
The Guides recommend that inactive children and youth start by increasing the amount of time they currently spend being physically active by at least 30 minutes per day, and decrease the time they currently spend sitting still, such as watching TV, playing computer games and surfing the Internet, by at least 30 minutes per day. The increase in physical activity should include a combination of moderate activity, such as brisk walking, skating and bike riding, as well as vigorous activity, such as running and playing soccer.
These first-ever national physical activity guidelines for children and youth recommend that they accumulate this increase in daily physical activity in periods of at least 5 to 10 minutes each. Over several months, children and youth should try to build-up to at least 90 minutes of physical activity per day and decrease by at least 90 minutes per day sedentary activities, such as watching videos and being on the computer.
Research studies show that over half of Canadian children and youth, age 5-17, are not active enough for optimal growth and development (Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 2000 Physical Activity Monitor). From 1981 to 1996, the prevalence of overweight children and youth doubled, and obesity tripled for both boys and girls (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2000). It is estimated that in 2001 the economic cost associated with obesity was $4.3 billion ($1.6 billion in direct costs and $2.7 billion in indirect costs), which represented 2.2 per cent of the total health-care costs in Canada for that year (Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 2004).
In February 2003, federal/provincial/territorial Ministers responsible for physical activity, sport and recreation set a new national target to increase physical activity by 10 per cent in each province and territory by the year 2010. Physical inactivity increases the risk of many conditions including heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, as well as depression and colon cancer. Physical inactivity contributes to the premature death of an estimated 21,000 Canadians annually.
Canadians can obtain free copies of Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth and the series of support resources including a family guide for parents and care-givers, a teacher's guide for use in the classroom, as well as interactive magazines for children and youth by calling 1-888-334- 9769 or visiting the Public Health Agency of Canada's website at www.paguide.com .
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