These results are consistent with previous results, from 2007 to 2015, for both children and youth as well as adults.Ĭycle 5 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey was conducted from January 2016 to December 2017. Less than 2 in 10 adults aged 18 to 79 met the recommended guidelines. Compared with children and youth, adults are generally less likely to adhere to the guidelines set for physical activity. The recommendation for adults is a physical activity target of 150 minutes of MVPA per week, in sessions of 10 minutes or more. Similar to children and youth, guidelines also exist for the adult population. Children aged 5 to 11 (47%) were 1.5 times more likely than youth aged 12 to 17 (31%) to meet the recommended guidelines. For this age group, boys (52%) were twice as likely as girls (26%) to meet the guideline. Approximately two in five children and youth aged 5 to 17 met this recommended guideline. Boys aged 5 to 17 twice as likely as girls to meet physical activity guidelinesįor children and youth, the recommended physical activity target is a daily average of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity ( MVPA). The guidelines provide specific recommendations on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for ages 0 to 4, 5 to 17, 18 to 64 and 65 and older. In Canada, recommendations on physical activity and sedentary behaviour for both children and adults are integrated into the 24-Hour Movement & Activity Guidelines of 2015. The Canadian Health Measures Survey ( CHMS) directly measures the physical activity level of Canadians aged 3 to 79 by using an activity monitor. Regular physical activity has been tied to improvements in body composition, self-esteem, bone density and blood pressure so tracking Canadians' activity levels over time plays an important public health function. About 40% of children and youth aged 5 to 17 meet the recommended targets for physical activity compared with 16% of adults aged 18 to 79.

Physical activity level