New ParticipACTION Report Card Shows Families are Critical Influencers for Children’s Healthy Habits

ParticipACTION Launches #ActiveFamilyPledge to empower mother and father to make household time “lively time”

TORONTO, June 17, 2020 /CNW/ – ParticipACTION launched its newest Report Card on Bodily Exercise for Kids and Youth at the moment, figuring out households as vital influencers in youngsters’s bodily exercise and wholesome habits. Proper now, households are bodily nearer than they’ve been for generations, as many people keep residence to assist comprise the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricted entry to playgrounds, bodily faculty, childcare and playdates means the household’s affect has by no means been better, but it surely’s additionally tougher than ever to develop and preserve wholesome habits at-home.

The ParticipACTION Report Card offers youngsters and youth a D+ for Total Bodily Exercise and D+ for Sedentary Behaviours.ⁱ Solely 39 per cent of kids and youth in Canada meet the nationwide bodily exercise pointers of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous bodily exercise per day. Lower than 1 in 5 youngsters (5-11-year-olds) and youth (12-17-year-olds) in Canada are assembly nationwide motion behaviour pointers for bodily exercise, sedentary behaviours and sleep.ⁱⁱ

“Every extra 20 minutes of reasonable to vigorous bodily exercise by a mum or dad is related to one other 5 minutes of their kid’s day by day bodily exercise,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific Officer, ParticipACTION Report Card, and Senior Scientist with the Wholesome Lively Residing and Weight problems Analysis Group, Kids’s Hospital of Japanese Ontario Analysis Institute. “No matter how the household dynamic appears, relations are necessary function fashions for the way younger Canadians develop. That’s the reason this yr’s Report Card accommodates a complete Consensus Assertion, developed from specialists round Canada, to assist inform and information households in working towards wholesome motion behaviours collectively.”

A current research commissioned by ParticipACTION to help the Report Card launch discovered that solely 4.eight per cent of kids and 0.eight per cent of youth had been assembly 24-hour motion behaviour pointers throughout COVID-19 restrictions, in comparison with 15 per cent previous to the pandemic. The research additionally reveals decrease bodily exercise ranges, much less exterior time and better sedentary behaviour (together with display screen time) in the course of the outbreak.

“The isolation and prolonged time indoors caused by bodily distancing measures can negatively affect our psychological well being and make it onerous to consider getting off your sofa and transferring,” says Elio Antunes, President and CEO, ParticipACTION. “Now, greater than ever, it is necessary for households to navigate the boundaries of labor and faculty whereas discovering the alternatives to be lively collectively. For adults and kids alike, bodily exercise can do wonders for each our bodily and psychological well being.”

Analysis reveals mother and father who measure as “lively” usually tend to have youngsters who additionally measure as “lively.”ⁱⁱⁱ That is why ParticipACTION has launched the #ActiveFamilyPledge, a social media problem empowering mother and father and caregivers to make high quality time “lively time” and determine themselves as an lively household. Till June 30^th, households who use the #ActiveFamilyPledge hashtag and tag @ParticipACTION together with an image or video of how their household is staying lively may have the possibility to win 1 of 5 $100 Sport Chek reward playing cards!

“Getting lively does not need to be difficult or costly,” says Mr. Antunes. “The extra households transfer, the extra children transfer, so we have to make bodily exercise a household precedence. If being lively is second nature for us as adults, it should in flip, grow to be second nature for our kids too.”

The next are three suggestions from the Report Card to assist households get extra lively:

1. Be an lively function mannequin: Incorporate bodily exercise into day by day routines and search for alternatives to be lively as a household when attainable. You’ll be able to take advantage of indoor time by attempting at-home exercises, household dance events and Pilates or yoga.
2. Create a household media plan: Set limits round display screen viewing, prioritize screen-free household time and use “system baskets” (bins for private cellular units).
3. Encourage outside time: Spending time outside as a household in keeping with bodily distancing steering is a simple and efficient method to improve bodily exercise, enhance psychological well being, lower sedentary behaviour and enhance sleep high quality. Attempt getting some contemporary air every day by going for a stroll and even simply doing yard work round the home.

It is time to make bodily exercise a household precedence and lead by instance – not just for the subsequent technology, however for our personal as nicely. Go to ParticipACTION.com for the complete Report Card and to learn to be a part of the #ActiveFamilyPledge. Households may also obtain the free ParticipACTION app for further help and motivation to suit bodily exercise into their busy lives and get rewarded for doing so.

Concerning the ParticipACTION Report Card on Bodily Exercise for Kids and Youth
The ParticipACTION Report Card on Bodily Exercise for Kids and Youth is essentially the most complete evaluation of kid and youth bodily exercise in Canada. The findings are relevant to all Canadian children, no matter gender, cultural background or socio-economic standing, and serves as a information for households to help wholesome motion behaviours of kids and youth.

The Report Card synthesizes information from a number of sources, together with the very best out there peer-reviewed analysis, to assign evidence-informed grades throughout 14 indicators: Total Bodily Exercise (D+); Sedentary Behaviour (D+); Lively Play (F); Lively Transportation (D-); Organized Sport (B); Bodily Training (D+); Sleep (B); 24-Hour Motion Behaviours (F); Bodily Literacy (D+); Bodily Health (D); Family (C); Faculty (B-); Neighborhood & Setting (B+); and Authorities (B-).

ParticipACTION’s strategic companion, the Wholesome Lively Residing and Weight problems Analysis Group (HALO) on the Kids’s Hospital of Japanese Ontario (CHEO) Analysis Institute (HALO-CHEO), performed a vital function within the analysis and growth of the 2020 Report Card.

About ParticipACTION
ParticipACTION is a nationwide non-profit group that helps Canadians sit much less and transfer extra. Initially established in 1971, ParticipACTION works with its companions, which embrace sport, bodily exercise and recreation organizations in addition to governments and company sponsors, to make bodily exercise a significant a part of on a regular basis life. For extra data, please go to ParticipACTION.com.

SOURCE ParticipACTION

For additional data: For additional data, copies of the ParticipACTION Baby and Youth Report Card or to schedule an interview please contact: Max Monahan-Ellison, Proof Methods Inc., [email protected]

Associated Hyperlinks

https://www.participaction.com/