What Are Rural Youth Doing After School? Are They Getting Enough Exercise?
Date: August 20, 2015
Author: info@ruralontarioinstitue.ca
This guest blog was provided by Jennifer Ronan of Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
Physical activity is important for health and well-being. The Eastern Ontario Physical Activity Network (EOPAN) recognizes physical inactivity in rural youth as an important public health issue. Canadian children and youth spend a large proportion of the after-school time period (between 3-6 p.m.) in sedentary pursuits. During those hours, research suggests that children and youth are getting very little moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity and also that rural youth may experience additional barriers to accessing recreation (and physical activity) opportunities, such as lack of transportation or safety issues.
With funding from a Heart and Stroke Foundation Spark Grant, five public health units in eastern Ontario surveyed youth in their rural areas to gain a better understanding of their physical activity experiences during the after-school time period.
Rural Youth After-School Experience Related to Physical Activity & Sedentary Behaviours, a discussion paper 2015, identifies patterns in physical activity and sedentary behaviours of grade 7 & 8 youth, living in rural Eastern Ontario. The objective of the paper is to help identify and guide future advocacy efforts related to rural youth physical activity during the after-school period, including the identification of opportunities and potential barriers.
One of the most poignant findings from the survey and the most important take away from this project may be the self-reported high levels of satisfaction rural youth have with their current sedentary after-school experiences. For those working with youth, it is important to understand that there are multiple barriers to engage rural youth in after-school programs. Simply creating a program may not be enough to entice happy youth away from their current – albeit sedentary – pastimes.
For more information about this project, contact Jennifer Ronan, RN, PHN at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health at jronan@hpeph.ca The discussion paper (pdf.) is available below.
EOPAN_RuralYouth-Report 2015.pdf (4.26 mb)
Also a related upcoming event by the Rural Ontario East Active Recreation group (ROAR) is being held September 21.
https://www.physicalactivitynetwork.ca/
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