Canada’s “culture of convenience” means children and youth sit too much and move too little, in gym class, on the playground, and while travelling to and from school, according to a global comparison released this week.

“Is Canada in the running?,” from Active Healthy Kids Canada grades kids from 15 countries on their physical activity levels in various areas.

Findings for Canada, followed by other countries’ grades, include:

■D- for overall physical activity (Mozambique and New Zealand lead with a B, Scotland lags with an F)
■C+ in organized sport participation (New Zealand leads with a B and Mozambique lags with an F)
■B+ in community & the built environment, such as local availability of parks, pools, arenas, leagues and bike lanes (Australia leads with an A-, and Mexico and Mozambique lag with an F)
■D in active transportation, such as how many kids walk or bike to school (Finland, Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria lead with a B, and the United States lags with an F)
■F in sedentary behaviour, like time camped in front of a TV or computer (Ghana and Kenya lead with a B, and Scotland, South Africa and Nigeria also received an F)
■C+ in physical activity at school (England leads with an A- and Colombia lags with an F)

For overall physical activity, 84 per cent of children in Canada aged three to four get the recommended 180 minutes of daily physical activity of any intensity.

The level falls to seven per cent of kids aged five to 11 who meet the guideline for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. Examples of moderate activities include walking quickly, skating and bike riding.

A run, basketball and soccer are vigorous activities.

“Why are our children sitting more and moving less? The answer requires a hard look at our culture of convenience,” the report’s authors said.

For most Canadians, the socially acceptable walking distance is less than 1.6 kilometres, according to the group. In contrast, in Finland, different social norms pay off and 74 per cent of kids who live between one and three kilometres from school walk or bike to class.

Distance is the most common reason Canadian kids don’t walk or bike to get to and from school. About 62 per cent of parents say their five to 17-year-olds are always driven to and from school, either by car, bus or transit.

Canadians seem to value doing more in less time, the report’s authors said, but this may be at odds with promotion of children’s health by engineering activity out of our lives.

CBC