Newmarket-Aurora MP Kyle Peterson’s private members’ motion to promote physical activity for Canada’s youth passed Wednesday with multi-party support.
Known as M-206, the motion will ensure that the House health committee report makes recommendations to Parliamentarians to prescribe ways in which the federal government can improve physical activity in Canadian youth and children.
It also directs the committee to study and understand the multi-faceted impact that fitness and physical activity have on Canadian children and youth.
The committee will report its findings to the House of Commons no later than June 2019.
“I am proud that Motion M-206 had the support in the House of Commons, and will go to the health committee for action,” Peterson said. “I look forward to the results from the standing committee on health and the recommendations for a strategy on this important matter.”
As the father of two young boys, Peterson said he has seen first-hand the significant benefits that an active lifestyle can have and how addictive screen-time can be.
“Ensuring that our youth are meeting the recommended physical activity levels is important and will lead them to a healthier and more successful life,” he added.
Canadian youth are not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity outlined in the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth.
Engaging in fitness and physical activity has numerous benefits for all ages, but particularly for youth, the guide states. Increased physical activity leads to not only healthy bodies, but healthy minds and can make youth more resilient in the face of bullying, research shows.
Active youth learn valuable skills such as time management and self-discipline, commitment, respect and fair play and teamwork.
In addition, recent evidence supports the concern that most Canadian youths are not active enough and shows that only 37.6 per cent of Canadian children and youth aged five to 17 are meeting the Canadian physical activity guidelines.
Rates of adherence to physical activity drop significantly as children enter adolescence, especially among girls.
Earlier this year, federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for sport, physical activity, and recreation endorsed Canada’s first national policy framework focused on increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary living.
A five-year, $25-million investment to Participaction was announced in the 2018 budget to increase participation in daily physical activity among Canadians.
Through M-206, the standing committee on health will have the opportunity to synthesize the existing body of research on the complex factors and conditions that influence the level of fitness and physical activity among the diverse groups of youth in Canada, and to highlight the social, cultural, physical and mental health benefits of increased fitness and physical activity.
