McMaster expert can comment on Active Healthy Kids Canada physical activity report card

Hamilton, Ont. October 14, 2011—A McMaster University expert is available to discuss the findings of the first Ontario supplement to the popular Active Healthy Kids Canada physical activity report card released today.

Brian W. Timmons is research director of the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster University and assistant professor in the department of pediatrics in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

Timmons sat on the research working group that evaluated all available evidence for the report card which uses 12 different indicators to grade the activity levels of Ontario children.

In the report, Ontario grades are provided alongside national results and show how children and youth in this province compare to their peers across Canada. They received an “F” grade for sedentary time (children and youth spend nearly two-thirds of their waking day sitting) and a “D” for physical education.

“The statistics for physical inactivity are far worse than those for childhood obesity. It is criminal that children in the province of Ontario are being left behind, and only marginally better than the country’s ‘F’ grade,” said Timmons.

He called the daily physical activity policy in Ontario schools “very disappointing.” “There is no consistent implementation or evaluation so our kids are the ones who suffer,” he said.

At McMaster, Timmons is currently investigating the activity levels of preschoolers in a study called HOPP (Health Outcomes and Physical activity in Preschoolers), funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The study, the first of its kind in Canada, is designed to determine how much physical activity is necessary for health during the early years.

-30-

Note to Editors: Active Healthy Kids Canada releases the Ontario Supplement to the 2011 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth Press Release at http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/858597/ontario-s-kids-are-missing-in-action

For further information and to arrange interviews, please contact:

Brian Timmons

Research director of the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program

timmonbw@mcmaster.ca

Veronica McGuire
Media Relations
Faculty of Health Sciences
McMaster University
905-525-9140, ext. 22169
vmcguir@mcmaster.ca