Children and Youth 

• “Individuals who are physically literate move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person.”(Physical Health and Education Canada).
• Just like children need to learn to read and write, children need to learn to be physically active. When children participate in play and activities that are appropriate at their stage of development, the develop confidence in their body’s ability to move and read their physical environment around them. When children are confident in their movement skills they are more likely to engage in active play. Active children are more likely to remain active as adults.
• Infants aged 0-1 years should be engaged in physical activity several times per day, especially floor based play.
• Children aged 1-2 and 3-4 years should engage in any intensity based play throughout the day for a minimum of 180 minutes. This play should include play in different environments and activities that development their movement skills; hopping, running, kicking and throwing. They should play enough to progress to 60 minutes of energetic play by the age of 5 years.
• Children aged 5 – 17 years should follow the new Physical Activity Guidelines which recommend the 24 Hour Movement Guidelines. This means that children aged 5 – 17 years engage in a cycle of Sweat, Step, Sleep and Sit in a 24 hour period. “Preserving sufficient sleep, trading indoor time for outdoor time, and replacing sedentary behaviours and light physical activity with additional moderate to vigorous physical activity can provide greater health benefits”. (ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth)

Adults

Health Benefits of Physical Activity

Adults who engage in physical activity gain many benefits to their health and well being. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada "people who are physically active live longer and healthier lives. Active people are more productive and are more likely to avoid illness and injury. Physical activity also increases our muscle and bone strength, decreases stress and increases independence." Included in the 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity that adults should accumulate throughout the week, adults should incorporate Endurance, Strength and Flexibility activities as well.

1. Endurance activities include: walking, running, cycling, and swimming. These activities are those that get your heart pumping faster and your lungs breathing harder. They are activities that make you break a sweat.
2. Strength activities should be incorporated at least twice during the week into your physical activities. Strength activities help maintain and improve muscle and bone strength, improve posture and help prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Examples of strength activities include heavy yard work, piling fire wood, carrying heavy bags of groceries, and participating in weight/strength training routines.
3. Flexibility exercises help you to move easily keeping your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile. Regular flexibility activities can help you live better and longer so that your quality of life and independence are maintained. Example of flexibility exercises include: stretching exercises, yoga, curling, dancing and gardening.

To assist adults with their physical activity plans, Algoma Public Health offers a walking program called 10,000 Steps to Healthy Living. For more information or to register, please contact the Chronic Disease and Prevention Team at 705-942-4646 or 1-866-892-0172.

Older Adults

Older adults aged 65 years and older should engage in 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more according to the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiologist. Older adults also benefit from engaging in strengthening exercises using their large muscle groups at least twice per week. When older adults engage in these types of activities, they decrease their risk of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cancers related to physical inactivity. In return they gain health benefits such as better flexibility and balance which in turn reduces their risk of falls and injury. 

Supporting older adults to stay healthy and independent as long as possible is vital to healthy aging.  Physical activity is a key way to keep older adults healthy and helps to reduce falls and other injuries.  The Ontario government invested in exercise and falls prevention classes across the province.  The Stand Up program is a best practice program for falls prevention across the North East region.  The Stand up program’s goal is to reduce the number and severity of falls among older adults. This exercise program focuses on building balance, strength and flexibility among older adults.   It is designed for older adults living independently in the community.   The program runs for 12 weeks and consists of three components:  group exercises, exercises at home and discussion on falls prevention. It is delivered by trained facilitators for 2.5 hours per week.

For more information on the Stand Up program, please contact Algoma Public Health 705-942-4646 or 1-866-892-0172.

Physical Activity and the Built Environment

The built environment has an important role to play in supporting human health as part of everyday living. In particular, the built environment can shape travel behaviour, including the amount of walking, cycling, public transport and car travel a person participates in. It can also facilitate opportunities for recreational physical activity, by providing well maintained and useful open spaces, in addition to safe and amenable streets for non-utilitarian walking a cycling.

Utilitarian physical activity (or active transportation) is comprised of non-motorized, human powered modes of transportation, such as walking or cycling to work, to school or to shop where the primary purpose is to get the destination or accomplish the task and the physical activity involved is secondary.

As well, different types of built environments are needed to support recreational and utilitarian physical activity. Both recreational and utilitarian physical activities require parks, sidewalks and trails and adequate public transportation since transit users are required to walk or cycle to the bus, subway or train stops.

Source:

The Healthy Built Environment Program (HBEP), City Future Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, "Healthy Built Environments: A Review to the Literature", 2011