Is Canada in the running? : 2014 Active Healthy Kids Canada report card on physical activity for children and youth

One of the most ambitious and exciting aspects of the Global Summit was that for the first time, 15 countries across 5 continents came together to present their respective national report cards, and revealed the world’s first-ever global matrix of grades on the physical activity of children and youth. [...] In Canada, healthcare expenditures and lost productivity in the workforce due to factors related to physical inactivity are in the billions of dollars and represent more than 2% of total healthcare costs annually.8, 9 This, in combination with the reduction in healthy life-years that comes with physical inactivity,10 points to the importance of physical activity. [...] Despite all the benefits of physical activity,only 5% of Canadian children and youth are getting enough daily physical activity.11 On the 10th anniversary of the Report Card, it is helpful to look back at the trajectories of physical activity promotion in Canada. [...] The continued disappointing levels of physical activity in Canada, in spite of its clear importance for health and development in children and youth, serves as a reminder of the complex nature of this undertaking and of the work that still needs to be done as we work to power the movement to gets kids moving. [...] Nevertheless, the grades for indicators of physical activity behaviour are low in most of the global matrix countries.2 There is a lot of work to be done to standardize physical activity surveillance across jurisdictions and ultimately, to improve physical activity behaviours and opportunities for kids around the world.