Canada to Ease Physical Fitness Guidelines???

cjengel

Hey everybody

Any fellow Canadians out there who have heard about our government considering lowering our physical activity guidelines?

Currently, the recommended daily physical exercise for adults is 60 minutes daily; children are supposed to get 90 minutes per day; and people over 65 are told be active for 30-60 minutes a day.

"Only 12 per cent of Canadian children and less than half of Canadian adults are meeting the existing standards."

The new standards would tell adults to get 150 minutes weekly, children should be active for just an hour a day, and people over 65 should do 150 minutes of moderate activity a week.

Oh, man. This has me worried. Our obesity rates are skyrocketing, we should be doing something about it! This "less is more" approach is not going to help. I think we here at myfitnesspal.com have all seen the benefits of physical exercise. I understand the hopeful psychological approach the government is using to back it up (along the lines of, "if the standards aren't so high, more people will be encouraged to try") but 150 minutes a week (this translates into 21 minutes a day!!!!) is simply not enough exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It may be interesting to note that while Canadians apparently cannot find the time to manage 7 hours of physical exercise a week, somehow the average Canadian manages to find the time for 22 hours of television watching a week.

read the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/canada-to-ease-physical-fitness-guidelines/article1857880/

xarrium

Well... if it means that more people will be active rather than giving up on PA before they even try it, I'm all for it. I personally think we need to make different policy changes if we want any chance of dealing with our weight problem--most of us at MFP know that diet is equally (if not more) important, yet our government hasn't really done anything to aid us in making better food choices. For example, I think it's disgusting that we're serving over-salted, high-fat, starch-heavy meals at the hospital I work at; why can't government step in, hire a team of dieticians, form a mandate for hospital food services, and actually implement it. That, and maybe a fitness tax credit for adults--it's worth it, but my rec centre pass cost me over $450 this year and it's gone up by $75 as of Jan 1st... I'd love a tax break for that!

Gargwin82

That is horrible! I live in Alberta and it's so sad how many kids you see sitting in strollers at 3+ holding PSP's ect. WII isn't a subsitute for getting outside, breathing fresh air, and interacting with other children. The time our children spend outside playing with other kids or just being in the community help build vital social skills as well as maintain health.

A lot of people look at 30minutes a day and think they have to do it straight. If the government said even 10minutes 3 times a day or whatever you can fit in people wouldn't look at it as such an overwhelming number.Even do 5 minutes of going up and down the stairs during your 3 work breaks (15,30,15 generally). By the end of work 1/2 of your 30 is done.

I know weather/expense is a huge excuse for people too. I'm in Alberta, we got 3ft of snow overnight so chances are not a lot of people are going to be out walking. I got a 2nd hand treadmill and have it downstairs facing the TV, I feel so much better walking on it during miserable days than sitting on the couch. If you own shoes, you have the most valuable piece of work out equipment you need for anything. Public librairies loan out several really good work out DVD's for adults and kids. They have free cards for low income adults and children under 16 I believe are free as well.

It's very sad our government feels codling is the way to go. Children are no longer allowd to be held back in school because it may make them feel bad. Now they lower activity levels so kids and adults don't feel bad.

cjengel

I'm in Alberta too and I have no intentions of going to the gym today; a) because the roads are dangerous, and b) i spent an hour shoveling this morning haha, I've already got my exercise done :P dang, looks like i have to shovel again...

sixty minutes a day isn't really all that much, when you factor in taking the stairs instead of the elevator and such.... sixty minutes does looking daunting but the simple things like walking on your treadmill instead of sitting really add up.

and I totally get the expensive thing, it is so expensive to not only purchase memberships but to buy healthy food. in alberta all our produce is imported and it is so so so expensive! I'm lucky because I'm a student so I get discounts on memberships but it is still tough with having to pay for school... the government should be doing more to support healthy living.

xarrium

That is horrible! I live in Alberta and it's so sad how many kids you see sitting in strollers at 3+ holding PSP's ect. WII isn't a subsitute for getting outside, breathing fresh air, and interacting with other children. The time our children spend outside playing with other kids or just being in the community help build vital social skills as well as maintain health.

Funny you should mention PSPs... I read an article the other day about how children under 6 shouldn't use the new 3D Nintendo DS games because it could damage their eyes... *who* gives a 6-year old a game console?! Aren't they supposed to be playing with actual toys at that age? Yikes.

(Looks like there's more Albertans here than I thought. I should have counted de-snowing my car for 20 minutes as a workout... hopefully no more giant dumps of snow this winter...)