Abstract
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Background
This study describes and compares the percentages of Canadian children and youth who adhere to different operational definitions of the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation of 60 minutes per day.
Data and methods
Data for 6- to 17-year-olds (n = 5,608) were collected from 2007 through 2015 as part of the Canadian Health Measures Survey. MVPA was measured using the Actical accelerometer. The MVPA recommendation was operationalized as accumulating 60 minutes of MVPA every day, on most days, and on average.
Results
Data from the most recent cycle of the Canadian Health Measures Survey indicate that 7% of children and youth accumulated at least 60 minutes of MVPA on at least 6 out of 7 days, and 33% achieved a weekly average of at least 60 minutes per day. Boys accumulated more MVPA than did girls, and 6- to 11-year-olds accumulated more MVPA than did 12- to 17-year-olds. Regardless of how adherence to the recommendation is operationalized, MVPA levels among Canadian children and youth did not change over the 9-year period from 2007 to 2015.
Interpretation
The majority of Canadian children do not meet the physical activity recommendation, regardless of the operational definition used. However, the discrepancies between results based on different interpretations of the 60-minutes-per-day recommendation highlight the importance of explicitly reporting how recommendations are operationalized to avoid misinterpreting trends and comparisons.
Keywords
Accelerometer, benchmarking, exercise, health surveys, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, movement
Findings
Physical activity is associated with a range of physical, mental, and social health benefits for children and youth. Guidelines published by the World Health Organization and by several countries recommend that children and youth accumulate a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day, and advocate engagement in vigorous-intensity physical activity, as well as muscle- and bone-strengthening activities, at least three times per week. [Full Text]
Authors
Rachel C. Colley (rachel.colley@canada.ca) and Didier Garriguet are with the Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Valerie Carson is with the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Ian Janssen is with the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, and Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Karen C. Roberts is with the Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Mark S. Tremblay is with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario.
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What is already known on this subject?
- The moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation for Canadian children and youth has previously been operationalized as accumulation of 60 minutes of MVPA on at least 6 out of 7 days per week.
- Based on this threshold, fewer than 10% of Canadian children and youth meet the recommendation.
- The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, released in 2016, suggest an alternative operational definition for the recommendation that classifies children and youth as adherent if their average daily MVPA is at least 60 minutes per day.
What does this study add?
- Based on the alternative operational definition, the percentage of children and youth meeting the MVPA recommendation increases from 7% to 33% (2014/2015).
- Regardless of which operational definition is applied, the percentage of children and youth meeting the MVPA recommendation remains low, and has not changed markedly since 2007.
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