Parents influence children’s activity, weight levels

Government statistics show that parents influence how active their children are and their chances of being overweight or obese. The numbers show that for every 20 minute increase in the activity of a parent, a child’s physical activity will go up by five to 10 minutes. They also show that children with an obese parent are more than twice as likely to be overweight or obese as are those children with parents who are not overweight or obese.

Many Canadians heading for obesity

Only nine per cent of Canadian children get the recommended one hour of physical activity per day and only 20 per cent of adults get the recommended 150 minutes per week. The way things are going, the statistics suggest that about 60 per cent of Canadian adults will be obese by 2030. Along with that will come all the health implications like increased rates of diabetes and heart disease.

Elio Antunes is the president of ParticipACTION, a national non-profit that tries to get Canadians moving. “(It’s) extremely challenging…Physical activity is always one of the things that get pushed down on our priority list. And what this research is telling us is that it’s essential that we take care of our physical health today in order…not to deal with health consequences down the road.”

Listen

On this, the 150^th anniversary of Canadian confederation, ParticipACTION launched a playlist of 150 activities and challenged Canadians to take part in as many as possible over the course of 2017. This list includes sports, games, cultural activities and indigenous activities. Antunes says there is something for everyone and there are variations that can be adapted according to ability and age.

‘It’s easy…fun…engaging…it’s Canadian’

So far, eight per cent of Canadians are participating in the challenge and it has been taken up by individuals, schools, retirement homes and workplaces. Earlier this year the most popular activity listed was shoveling snow. Now that the weather is warmer, walking, hiking and canoeing are more popular.

Antunes is pleased with the participation so far: “It has been a program that many different facets of society have latched on to because it’s easy, it’s fun, it’s engaging and it’s Canadian.”