Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada - Volume 33, no. 2, March 2013

Figure 1
Percentage of Project BEAT participants (10–12 years) and CHMS participants (6–19 years) with at least 5, 10 and 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity a day, by number of days a week

Figure 1 shows percentage of Project BEAT participants (children aged 10–12 years) and CHMS participants (children and youth aged 6–19 years) with at least 5, 10 and 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity a day, by number of days a week. Project BEAT data showed a significantly greater proportion of boys than girls meeting this target (7.1% and 1.9%, respectively; p < .05); gender comparisons were not made in the CHMS cohort. A little more than a quarter of Project BEAT children (27.1%) accumulated at least 10 minutes of VPA on at least 3 days of the week (35.1% of boys and 20.4% of girls; p < .05). Nearly two-thirds of children (64.7%) accumulated at least 5 minutes of VPA on at least 3 days of the week (72.8% of boys and 57.9% of girls; p < .05), findings that are proportionately higher compared to CHMS observations. Project BEAT and CHMS data both revealed that the vast majority of all MVPA is accumulated at moderate intensity (80% and 97%, respectively). Around 4.3% of children in Project BEAT accumulated at least 20 minutes of VPA at least 3 days a week, a result quite similar to CHMS findings (4%).

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