TORONTO – Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth 2008, published by Active Healthy Kids Canada, gives Canadian kids a D – for the third year running – when it comes to physical activity levels. However, this year, it finds more and more pre-school aged children are inactive, spending more time in front of TV and reporting higher levels of obesity. Active Healthy Kids Canada recommends that children have 60 to 90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day on most days of the week. The report card shows that many children spend four to six hours each day in front of the television or computer.

Girls reported that they were more active than boys; 50 per cent of boys reported that they met the 90 minute activity target while only 36 per cent of girls reported the same activity level.

Children who spend excessive time in front of television and computer screens are less likely to participate in physical activities and are more likely to have low fitness levels and to be obese, according to the report.

The report finds that 26 per cent of Canadian children and youth are overweight or obese, and that the prevalence of obesity increases with a child’s age. In children aged two to five, 21.5 per cent are overweight or obese, while 25.8 per cent of kids aged six to 11 years and 29.2 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 are overweight or obese.

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