Practicing Sports Since The Pandemic | The Boys And The Seniors Are Hardworking

Boys aged 12 to 17 have resumed physical activity since the pandemic, but girls have not, according to data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. Adults have maintained their physical activity levels, and the oldest are also more active compared to 2018. But young and old are spending more time in front of the screen.

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Posted at 7:00 p.m.

Girls move less

Practicing sports since the pandemic The boys and the

Before COVID-19, 54.3% of boys met the physical activity recommendation of one hour of exercise per day, compared to 44.7% of girls. These numbers fell to 39.5% for boys and 34.8% for girls in the first year of the pandemic, from September to December 2020. They then increased again in 2021, but without reaching pre-pandemic levels: in 2022, 52.2% of boys adhered to the recommendations for physical activity, while only 35% of girls did so.

PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE

Before COVID-19, 54.3% of boys met the physical activity recommendation of one hour of exercise per day, compared to 44.7% of girls.

Barriers to practicing sports

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Girls have always played less sport than boys, remembers Geneviève Leduc, senior program advisor at Fitactive. In her opinion, Statistics Canada’s results are not that surprising. “We know the barriers to physical activity among girls. They often fear being judged, may lack self-esteem, or lack confidence in their physical abilities. And at a certain age, puberty hits them,” explains the specialist in physical activity for adolescent girls. “All in all, this means you have to work harder to get girls active, especially in adolescence,” she says.

More active seniors

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Among adults, between 2018 and 2021, only men aged 18 to 64 reduced the time they spent on physical activity (-17.5 minutes per week). Conversely, this time per week increased by 8.4 minutes per week, not less, for people aged 65 and over. The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) recommends adults get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week.

Screen time is increasing

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In addition to physical activity, time spent in front of screens has increased across all age groups. In 2021, 56.4% of teens ages 12 to 17 spent more than four hours a day in front of a screen outside of school. Among adults, 37% of 18 to 64-year-olds and 41.7% of those over 65 looked at the screen for more than four hours a day outside of work in 2021, up 9 percentage points since 2018. CSEP recommends a maximum of two hours of screen time per day for teenagers and three hours per day for adults.

Solutions to explore

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PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE

Statistics Canada believes providing safe sidewalks and bike paths to increase active transportation would benefit Canadians of all ages.

To increase participation in sport, Statistics Canada believes providing safe sidewalks and bike paths to increase active transportation would benefit Canadians of all ages. The federal agency also suggests that parents should receive support for their children’s use of electronic devices. “One thing is certain,” emphasizes Geneviève Leduc, “all population groups would benefit from being more active, from replacing screen time with physical activity, even of low intensity.” It’s not about being hot all the time . Active transportation is important. A walk counts. »