chicot60
02-15-2011, 01:52 PM
By Derek Abma, Postmedia News
OTTAWA — Canadian kids are being urged to get their butts off the couch and their eyes off the screen in some newly released lifestyle guidelines.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology on Tuesday unveiled its recommended limits on sedentary behaviour for youngsters between the ages of five and 17.
They're the first ever guidelines for sedentary behaviour issued in Canada, the group says.
But meeting the targets could be a challenge, given all the enticing recreational options — television, video games and Internet, to name a few — that are out there.
"Today, kids face much greater challenges when it comes to sedentary time than we did or our parents did," said Kelly Murumets, CEO of exercise-promotion group ParticipAction, which was involved in setting the new guidelines.
"For sure, society in general is much more sedentary than it was a generation ago. . . . We're more sedentary today than we were 10 years ago."
Being sedentary means allowing the body to be at rest for prolonged periods of time.
The new guidelines say children and youth should get no more than two hours of "screen time" a day, which includes TV, recreational use of a computer and non-active video games.
It does not include games that involve wide-ranging body movements, such as those played on the Wii and Kinect systems.
As well, the group recommends reducing the amount of time youngsters spend in cars, indoors or even sitting down for long periods uninterrupted.
"Is it necessary for us to take the van to soccer practice, or could we bike over?" society chairman Mark Tremblay said as an example of the thinking the guidelines are meant to provoke. "Billy's been sitting on the couch there for hours. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that that's bad for him."
Tremblay pointed out some of the risks that a lazy lifestyle brings, including the higher risk of cardiovascular problems. He said research has shown that more sedentary time can negatively affect children's academic performance and their self-esteem.
The new guidelines are just fine with Toronto's Sarah Connor, who has four children, between the ages of eight and 13. With her children heavily involved in sports such as tennis, hockey and skiing, she says she figures they're getting only an hour of screen time now — half the new recommended limit.
"I over-program my kids, because I love (sports)," Connor said. "They really just don't have the time (to be sedentary). Being honest, if they didn't do all the stuff they did, they'd probably be on the screen from 4 to 8 p.m. every day."
The sedentary guidelines follow the society's latest recommendations on activity released Jan. 24. They called for adults to participate in 2 1/2 hours of moderate-to-vigorous activity a week, and an hour a day for youths and children.
Data recently released by Statistics Canada showed that just 15 per cent of adults were meeting these guidelines, and seven per cent of youths. As well, young people were found to be spending an average 8.6 hours a day in a sedentary state, or about 62 per cent of their waking hours.
Tremblay said he hopes recommendations for adults can be offered in the near future.
In the meantime, he offered this advice for grown-ups: "Whatever you're doing now (in terms of sedentary behaviour) is probably excessive," meaning people of all ages should consider reducing the time they spend watching TV, surfing the Internet, riding in vehicles and other things that require little energy.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/Less+lazy+time+recommended+kids/4285315/story.html#ixzz1E2G5lAYA
OTTAWA — Canadian kids are being urged to get their butts off the couch and their eyes off the screen in some newly released lifestyle guidelines.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology on Tuesday unveiled its recommended limits on sedentary behaviour for youngsters between the ages of five and 17.
They're the first ever guidelines for sedentary behaviour issued in Canada, the group says.
But meeting the targets could be a challenge, given all the enticing recreational options — television, video games and Internet, to name a few — that are out there.
"Today, kids face much greater challenges when it comes to sedentary time than we did or our parents did," said Kelly Murumets, CEO of exercise-promotion group ParticipAction, which was involved in setting the new guidelines.
"For sure, society in general is much more sedentary than it was a generation ago. . . . We're more sedentary today than we were 10 years ago."
Being sedentary means allowing the body to be at rest for prolonged periods of time.
The new guidelines say children and youth should get no more than two hours of "screen time" a day, which includes TV, recreational use of a computer and non-active video games.
It does not include games that involve wide-ranging body movements, such as those played on the Wii and Kinect systems.
As well, the group recommends reducing the amount of time youngsters spend in cars, indoors or even sitting down for long periods uninterrupted.
"Is it necessary for us to take the van to soccer practice, or could we bike over?" society chairman Mark Tremblay said as an example of the thinking the guidelines are meant to provoke. "Billy's been sitting on the couch there for hours. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that that's bad for him."
Tremblay pointed out some of the risks that a lazy lifestyle brings, including the higher risk of cardiovascular problems. He said research has shown that more sedentary time can negatively affect children's academic performance and their self-esteem.
The new guidelines are just fine with Toronto's Sarah Connor, who has four children, between the ages of eight and 13. With her children heavily involved in sports such as tennis, hockey and skiing, she says she figures they're getting only an hour of screen time now — half the new recommended limit.
"I over-program my kids, because I love (sports)," Connor said. "They really just don't have the time (to be sedentary). Being honest, if they didn't do all the stuff they did, they'd probably be on the screen from 4 to 8 p.m. every day."
The sedentary guidelines follow the society's latest recommendations on activity released Jan. 24. They called for adults to participate in 2 1/2 hours of moderate-to-vigorous activity a week, and an hour a day for youths and children.
Data recently released by Statistics Canada showed that just 15 per cent of adults were meeting these guidelines, and seven per cent of youths. As well, young people were found to be spending an average 8.6 hours a day in a sedentary state, or about 62 per cent of their waking hours.
Tremblay said he hopes recommendations for adults can be offered in the near future.
In the meantime, he offered this advice for grown-ups: "Whatever you're doing now (in terms of sedentary behaviour) is probably excessive," meaning people of all ages should consider reducing the time they spend watching TV, surfing the Internet, riding in vehicles and other things that require little energy.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/Less+lazy+time+recommended+kids/4285315/story.html#ixzz1E2G5lAYA