Kamloops organizations encourage healthy habits as report shows drop in kids’ physical activity, increase in screen-time

KAMLOOPS — It’s a common juggling act for Canadian families to balance physical activity, outdoor time, and screen time. And the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help.

A new report has revealed startling findings around child and youth activity levels throughout the pandemic. ParticipAction’s Child and Youth Report Card for 2022 shows a sizable drop in overall physical activity, and an increase in screen time. (To read the full report and highlights, click here.)

According to the report, only 28 per cent of kids aged 5 to 17 years old in Canada are getting 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

“With us being faced with some really significant barriers but also mental health challenges for children and youth post pandemic, I think it’s even more important now for families – children and youth – to be outside and be active,” says BGC Kamloops executive director Traci Anderson.

BGC Kamloops is one of several organizations that is part of the PLAY Kamloops coalition – focused on improving physical literacy in the community with free events and programming.

Even with pandemic-cancelled sports and structured activity programs returning – Anderson notes that rising inflation costs mean many families can’t afford it.

“Just being considerate that some families have limited resources, and it’s important that all sectors – whether it’s schools, etc – that we increase that activity and that we do it really intentionally,” she adds.

According to the report, sedentary behaviour also received a failing grade. Only 16.5 per cent of kids in Canada met the screen time guideline of no more than two hours a day at the start of the pandemic. Fiona Clare with Literacy in Kamloops says the information wasn’t exactly a shock.

“Screen time before the pandemic was more of a choice, and then the pandemic made it like a necessity,” says Clare. “People had to go do their work online and do school online and visit with family and friends online.”

So, how do parents break the habit? Clare says replacing some of that excess screen time with in-person games or outdoor activities is a good start. And the approach makes a world of difference in how kids respond.

“Not in the heat of the moment, when you’re just fed up with the amount of time your kids have spent on screen that day and it’s just like ‘okay that’s it!’,” she explains, “So when everyone is calm. A peaceful time and then you can just have that negotiation about, ‘well we’d really like to spend more time together.’.”

It’s not all grim news, Anderson notes that ParticipAction’s report also pointed to more hopeful findings – such as use of public outdoor spaces going up during the pandemic.

“What I saw was a lot of people going out in nature, and hiking on trails and doing new activities and new sports,” Anderson adds.

BGC Kamloops says increasing a child or youth’s daily physical activity level doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. But it may require parents to think outside the box.