In addition to highlighting differences in physical activity levels by the various factors potentially influencing participation, the current analysis examines difference by age, sex, regional differences, education, income, employment status, community size, family composition, and child and parent participation in sport. Although the report describes adult physical activity levels, it primarily provides a synopsis of the current situation in Canada for use by policy and decision-makers in designing initiatives to increase physical activity among Canadian children.

Topics in this section will look at the activity levels of children and youth in relation to current thinking about guidelines and recommendations, examine the activity level of children against various factors examined in other section of this report and then wrap up with recommendations for policies and programs.

This section examines the modes of commuting to school that Canadian children use on a regular basis. This section concludes with a discussion of the implications and recommendations associated with the findings.

This section examines the availability of physical education and other physical activity opportunities in the school environment. In addition, it explores the use of cooperative agreements with municipalities. This section concludes with a discussion of the implications and recommendations resulting from the data.

This section explores the choices of pursuits made by Canadian children in their time after school and before dinner. These ar characterized in this section as sedentary and active pursuits. This section will finish with a discussion of the implications and recommendations resulting from the data.

This section examines the extent to which facilities and programs in the local community are available for children and youth to be active. In addition, it explores attitudes about how well these facilities and programs meet the needs of young people, as well as current use of these opportunities. This section concludes with a discussion of the implications and recommendations resulting from the data.

This section examines various types of parental support, in particular: the amount of time parents spend engaged in active play or sports with their child; time spent by parents transporting their child to and from physical activities and sports; whether or not the parent supervised recess or helped out at a physical activity or sport event at school during the past year; whether parents volunteered to help with their children’s physical activities or sports outside of school; and whether parents provided financial support for their children’s physical activities or sport participation.

This section examines young peoples’ preferences for physical activity and sport, in particular preferences for: sedentary activities over active pursuits; organized over unorganized physical activities and sport; vigorous over moderate-intensity activities and sports; competitive over non-competitive activities; and activities of varying skill levels. This section also suggests policy and program recommendations.