After School. Time to Get Active.  

School’s Out … Do You Know What Your Kids Are Doing?  

This year, the Report Card is highlighting the critical after-school period, focusing on the influences on physical activity levels that exist in the time between the end of the school day and before the dinner hour – 3pm to 6pm.

Intuitively, it would seem that once school is out for the day, children’s activity levels would rise because they are presented with “free time.” Anecdotally, we know that most children who grew up a generation or two ago spent this time in active play – running, biking, and playing (usually outside) with their friends. Various data sources suggest that this is not the case today; Canadian children and youth have adopted a modern lifestyle that includes spending a great deal of this after-school time sitting idle indoors.

The low physical activity levels and increasingly sedentary behaviour patterns of Canadian children and youth in the after-school period are startling:

• The newly released canadian health measures survey findings from statistics canada indicate that kids are sedentary 59% of the time between 3 and 6 p.m., getting only 14 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity in this 3-hour period. (2007-09 chms)          
• 73% of parents tell us their kids are watching tv, reading, or playing video and computer games after school. This number exceeds those who report homework, chores, outdoor play and physical activity/sport in this time period.

• Boys are more likely than girls to engage in physical activity in the after-school period.        
• Children in lower-income families are less able to participate in organized sport and physical activity after school.

After-school programming that involves physical activity may be inaccessible to some children, making it difficult for them to meet recommended physical activity guideline levels.

• 72% of parents say their children don’t have access to a supervised program after school.
• Fewer than half of the after-school programs reported had physical activity as the primary purpose.

A lack of programming for adolescents may be leaving our teens vulnerable to increased sedentary pursuits or even risky behaviours.

• A national scan of after-school programs indicates that the vast majority, 88%, are targeted to children ages 5 to 12, with only 49% of programs even open to teenagers.
• Lack of youth programming has implications for health behaviours other than physical activity; research indicates that as the length of unsupervised time increases in this age group, so does the risk for experimentation with behaviours such as sexual activity, and alcohol and marijuana use.

Outdoor activity, once a key source of children’s after-school physical activity, is on the decline, due in part to parental concerns about supervision and safety. 

• 5- to 19-year-olds who play outdoors between 3 and 6 p.m. take 2,000 more steps per day than those who don’t play outdoors in this period.
• While many parents of younger children indicate their children spend some time playing outside after school, only 43% of 13- to 17-year-olds are doing the same.

What Are Some of the Solutions?

Recommendations for increasing physical activity in the after-school period:

Get Outside With Room To Move:

Kids who are outside during the after-school period take about 2,000 more steps per day than kids who are cocooned indoors. This is a substantial amount of activity, roughly equivalent to walking an additional 2 kilometres per day!

School-Community Partnerships and Training:

Effective partnerships between school administrators and those who offer sport, recreation and school-aged child care have been demonstrated to facilitate the engagement of students in programming at nearby facilities or delivered in the school itself.

Youth Leadership:

Programs that involve youth in the development of physical activity programs result in higher levels of youth engagement an foster connections with peers.

Policy and Investment Support:

The after-school period has been identified as a target for physical activity by the Public Health Agency of Canada and all of the provincial and territorial governments. Policy changes by governments and partners are needed to ensure that resources and training for physical activity promotion in the after-school period are available, and sustained.