Canadian kids aren't getting enough exercise: report

Canadians are dropping the ball when it comes to ensuring their kids are getting enough exercise.

A new report card issued by the non-profit organization ParticipACTION is giving kids across the country a "D" letter grade for overall physical activity.

That’s a decline from the last survey done in 2020, which gave Canadians a D+.

For kids aged five to 17, that’s an accumulation of at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Calgary mom Terri Huy says its been difficult for kids to keep up with sports and physical activity during the pandemic. 

"It's hard for the kids being stuck indoors all the time," she said.

Her son Brady says he prefers to play team sports than be on a screen. 

"I really like enjoying like playing football outside, playing basketball with my friends and not staying at home playing video games," said Huy.

The 2022 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth attributes much of the decline was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, there was a sudden and drastic shift in the ways kids could access physical activity opportunities," reads the report.

Activities like playing with friends, in-person physical education classes, sport competitions and recreation programming were all stalled by public health measures.

The number of youth playing organized sports decreased in 2022 to just 57 per cent.

Seventy-three per cent of local sports organizations temporarily closed due to COVID- 19.

"People may not be participating for the same reasons that they were participating pre-COVID and so looking at those reasons, why are or why (aren’t) people participating," said Nadine Van Wyk, assistant professor in the department of health and physical education at Mount Royal University. 

"Are there social reasons? Are they afraid of being in large groups? What are the repercussions of that lack of social connection? We're not getting together with other people, which may not motivate us to want to participate."

Van Wyk says the conversation must shift to allow kids and families to return to various levels of activity. 

"How can we get you back?" she said. 

"Why aren't you registering for hockey? What could we do? And maybe some of that is more opportunities for families to be active and engaged."

Van Wyk says being physically active helps with the overall mental health and wellbeing. 

TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME

COVID-19 also increased sedentary screen use, the report suggests.

Only 18 per cent of kids meet the Canadian 24-Hour Movement recommendations of no more than two hours per day of recreational screen time.

"The pivot to virtual learning and calls to stay at home transformed kids' screens from an indulgence into a necessity for education and a default for leisure-time behaviour creating even greater concerns for the many ways that screen time adversely impacts healthy movement behaviours and overall well-being," reads the report.

As a result, Canadians dropped from a D+ to a F.

"COVID really forced us into being on our screens," said Van Wyk. 

"It didn't help our cause any further, particularly with kids. Not only were they on there for just the enjoyment of watching a movie or whatever, but for schoolwork and so that certainly had a negative impact on our children's physical activity levels."

SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT

While the country’s grade for overall physical activity decreased, there were signs of improvement in other categories.

Active play, which is non-organized or unstructured leisure activities, increased from a failing grade to a D-.

Active transportation to get to and from places increased from D- to a C-.

Forty-six per cent of parents indicated through the report that their children either solely commute actively to school or commute partially in an active way.

The report card makes a number of recommendations for improving Canadians grades in all categories.

Those include better public messaging about the importance of exercise, more studies into Canadians’ exercise habits, and exposing children to a variety of different sports, or "sport sampling," as opposed to early sport specialization. 

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Regan Hasegawa