Health Reports
A Canadian peer-reviewed journal of population health and health services research
May 2024
Sociodemographic differences in recreational screen time before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
by Stephanie Toigo, Marisol T. Betancourt, Stephanie A. Prince, Rachel C. Colley and Karen C. Roberts
Canadians spend a significant proportion of their days engaging in sedentary behaviour. Research has indicated that sedentary behaviour is a risk factor for many chronic conditions in adults, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, some cancers, depression, and anxiety, and also contributes to all-cause mortality. Similarly, among children and youth, higher levels of sedentary behaviour are associated with markers of adiposity and cardiometabolic risk, decreased fitness, and lower scores for self-esteem and pro-social behaviour. Over the last several years, self-reported data on recreational screen time have shown increasing trends across all age groups.
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Sociodemographic differences in recreational screen time before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
- Colley RC, Lang JJ, Saunders TJ, Roberts KC, Butler GP, Prince SA. How sedentary are Canadian adults? It depends on the measure. Health Reports 2022; 33(10): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202201000002-eng
- Colley RC, Bushnik T, Langlois K. Exercise and screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Reports 2020; 31(6): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202000600001-eng
- Prince SA, Roberts KC, Reed JL, Biswas A, Colley RC, Thompson W. Daily physical activity and sedentary behaviour across occupational classifications in Canadian adults. Health Reports. 2020; 31(9): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202000900002-eng
- Roberts KC, Yao X, Carson V, Chaput JP, Janssen I, Tremblay MS. Meeting the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth. Health Reports. 2017; 28(10).
Harmonizing the assessment of allostatic load across cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey: Variable selection and calculation method
by Errol M. Thomson, Mike Walker and Brittany Halverson-Duncan
There is growing acceptance that both chemical and non-chemical stressors are important health determinants and, moreover, that the stress context may modify the effect of or response to exposure to a novel stressor. The theoretical underpinnings for the relationship between stressor exposure and health effects were articulated in the concept of allostatic load, the notion that the adaptation to stressor exposure by the body’s stress response systems may come at a cost, resulting in “wear and tear” that can increase the likelihood of disease. Pioneering studies by Seeman, McEwen, and colleagues showed that allostatic load was predictive of future morbidity and mortality, highlighting its relevance as a predictor for trajectories of health and disease with aging. Since then, numerous studies have investigated relationships between exposures—often psychosocial—and allostatic load, and between allostatic load and disease.
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Harmonizing the assessment of allostatic load across cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey: Variable selection and calculation method
- Thomson EM, Kalayci H, Walker M. Cumulative toll of exposure to stressors in Canadians: An allostatic load profile. Health Reports. 2019; 30(6): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x201900600002-eng
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