Kids Need More Sleep and Physical Activity
According to ParticipACTION’s 2016 Report Card
For the first time, the 2016 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth assigns a grade to sleep and includes new Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth. A first of their kind in the world, the guidelines outline what a healthy 24-hour period looks like for children and youth.
These guidelines call for at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, no more than two hours a day of recreational screen time, limited sitting for extended periods and at least 9-11 hours of sleep per night for children 5-13, and 8-10 hours for those aged 14-17 years.
“Sleep deprivation is becoming a problem for Canadian children and youth, creating a threat to their mental and physical health,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific Officer, ParticipACTION Report Card and Director of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute’s Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (CHEO-HALO). “It’s time to take a whole day approach – many kids are too tired to get enough physical activity during the day, and not active enough to be tired at night – it’s a vicious cycle.”
For optimal health children and youth need to sweat, step, sleep and sit the right amounts. Only 9 percent of kids get enough heart-pumping physical activity and only 24 percent are meeting screen time guidelines of no more than two hours per day. Plus, in recent decades, children’s nightly sleep duration has decreased by 30 minutes to an hour; 31 percent of school-aged kids and 26 percent of adolescents in Canada are sleep deprived.
In addition to impacting children’s physical activity levels, sleep deprivation has many other health implications. For example, too little sleep can cause hyperactivity, lower IQ scores and produce adverse hormonal changes like those associated with increased risks of obesity, diabetes and hypertension.
For more information on the Report Card, including the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth, please visit www.participaction.com/reportcard.
In Renfrew County, the Healthy Kids Community Challenge is underway and is delivering programs and activities to support children and youth to be more active and healthy. During the first theme, Run, Jump, Play municipalities across the county were challenged to create physical activity equipment lending hubs and develop an outdoor play space. For more information follow Healthy Kids Renfrew County on Facebook or contact your local municipality for information on lending hubs and outdoor play spaces in your area.
For more information about healthy living and physical activity ideas for children, visit the Physical Activity section of the Renfrew County and District Health Unit’s website at www.rcdhu.com or call 613-735-8651 ext. 545.
