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It’s well-established that Canadian children are not as active as they could be. Now a new study suggests they may be among the least active kids in the world.
In June, the annual ParticipAction report card gave Canadian kids a D- for their level of physical activity, the fourth year in a row they received that grade. Researchers estimated only nine percent of kids aged five to 17 get the recommended minimum of 60 minutes of ?heart-pumping activity? a day.
The new ParticipAction study, released Wednesday, compared Canada?s dismal record to data from 37 other countries. Canada was placed towards the bottom of the pack, alongside other developed countries including Australia, England, Spain and the United States.
In Slovenia, which received a top mark of A-, 86 percent of boys and 76 percent of girls get enough physical activity. Lead researcher Dr. Mark Tremblay says there?s no reason Canadian kids can?t be more active. In large part, he says it?s because ?we choose not to.? He placed some of the blame on too much screen time and not enough free, unstructured play.
There were 26 countries that earned a D or worse; Belgium, Chile, China, Qatar and Scotland were among those with an F.
More-developed countries tended to score poorly in the study while less-developed countries placed relatively high, including Cs for Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria and C+ for Brazil and India.
?This is a paradox,? says Tremblay, who suggests those countries may have strong...