Study: Only a Fifth of Canadians Getting Enough Exercise

According to a Statistics Canada study, only 15% of Canadians are meeting the most up-to-date guidelines for physical activity. The guidelines cal for 2.5 hours per week of moderate to vigorous activity.

The guidelines also suggest that young people aged 5 to 17 should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. CHMS data indicated that 7% of young people attain this level of activity.

By gender, the guidelines for adults were achieved by 17% of men and 14% of women. The guidelines for young people were achieved by 9% of boys and 4% of girls.

The CHMS used accelerometers to collect objective measures of physical activity and sedentary behaviour for a nationally representative sample of Canadians aged 6 to 79. The data show that the majority of waking hours of both adults and young people are sedentary.

Adults spend about an average of 9.5 hours a day in sedentary pursuits, the equivalent of about 69% of their waking hours.

For children and youth, 8.6 hours a day, or 62% of their waking hours, are sedentary. These averages increase with age; among teenagers aged 15 to 19, sedentary time surpasses 9 hours a day.
Adults

Overall, about one-half (53%) of adults accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity one or more days a week, but this means that almost as many (47%) do so less than one day a week.

About 5% of adults accumulate 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on a regular basis, that is, at least 30 minutes at least five days a week.

At ages 20 to 39, men engage in more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than do women. On average, men accumulate 27 minutes a day of such activity, compared with 21 minutes for women. Obese men accumulate 19 minutes a day, while obese women accumulate 13 minutes.

Men average about 9,500 steps a day, compared with 8,400 for women.

This daily average is significantly lower at ages 60 to 79 (7,900 steps for men and 7,000 steps for women). Obese men and women accumulate significantly fewer steps per day than do adults with a healthy weight.