Commission Urges Action

Canadian activity levels are still below par. That's the latest finding of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.

"A full 64 per cent of Canadians are still not active enough to benefit their health,' said Cora Craig, president of the institute.

The comments are based on the institute's latest national telephone survey which shows activity levels have stalled in recent years. The results show half of young adults from 18 to 24 years old are not active enough to benefit their health, while the number increases to two-thirds for Canadians between 25 and 64. Women continue to be less active than men.

The survey was released at the launch of this year's SummerActive celebration. The program begins May 12 with Sneaker Day and runs until June 20. It encourages people to get more active a little at a time. The program is promoted in this province by the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission.

If you're not regularly active, the commission suggests increasing your activity in 10-minute bouts per day. The end result should be 30 to 60 minutes of light to moderate activity every day.

The commission is in the midst of a project to improve physical activity among children and teens. Three years ago it formed Physically Active Children and Youth which includes people from the departments of Health, Education, Community Services, Justice and the Youth Secretariat.

It's partnering with Dalhousie, Acadia and St. Francis Xavier universities to measure activity levels for children and teens. That benchmark will be used to identify barriers and improve programs. Next week, a pilot project to test the methods to be used in a provincewide study will begin in four schools.