The best place for children and youth to change their behaviour about physical activity is right inside local schools.
According to a new report prduced by the Cofnerence Board of Canada’s Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care, almost one-third of Canadian children and youth are overweight or obese, while only nine per cent of those aged five to 17 meet the guideline of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day at least six days a week.
“Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour are major contributors to chronic disease and Canadian children are spending an increasing amount of time sitting, whether in the classroom or in front of a screen at home,” said Thy Dinh, director of Health Economics from the Conference Board of Canada. “Our report shows that schools play an important role in helping children form healthy and active living habits at an early age.”
Increasing physical activity participation includes changes to the physical education curriculum, classroom activity breaks, active commuting to school, and modified playgrounds. Schools are increasingly targeting screen time, as part of a larger effort to reduce sedentary behaviour.
The “Moving Ahead: School-Based Interventions to Reduce Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behaviour” report finds that additions or changes to the physical education curriculum were the most effective at increasing physical activity among children and youth, and provides recommendations on how schools can help change their behaviour.
Recommendations for schools to implement include: Physical education curriculum: Physical education policies differ across Canada with only some provinces and territories setting daily requirements. Integrating physical activity into the curriculum, including new teaching methods has demonstrated effectiveness in increasing daily physical activity.
Classroom activity breaks: Taking activity breaks either between or within lessons is proven to have a high impact on increasing physical activity. This low cost, low burden intervention does not increase teacher preparation time or decrease time spent on core subject curriculum.
Active commuting to school: Walking or cycling to and from school can increase children’s physical activity levels. This cost-effective activity can be implemented with varying resource levels; however, it tends to be more effective among older children in neighbourhoods within a safe walking distance to school.
Modified playgrounds: Making changes to the playground infrastructure and increasing the availability of non-fixed equipment has been found to significantly increase physical activity at recess periods. However, modified playground requirements, while effective in the short term, may be costly or lose their novelty in the long term.
Screen time: As part of a larger effort to reduce sedentary behaviour, initiatives aimed at reducing screen time could be integrated into school curriculum. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this issue and initiatives should take into account capacity, resources, and demographics of individual school environments and encourage the active involvement of parents or caregivers.
