Physical activity in youth: prevalence, risk indicators, and solutions.

OBJECTIVE To determine the unadjusted and adjusted associations between developmental, environmental, psychological, social, or demographic factors and meeting the Health Canada physical activity standard. DESIGN Survey. SETTING Saskatoon, Sask. PARTICIPANTS Every student in grades 5 to 8 in Saskatoon was asked to complete the Saskatoon School Health Survey; 4197 students did so. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Whether students met the Health Canada standard for daily physical activity and associated risk factors for not meeting the standard. RESULTS Among the 4197 youth who participated in the survey, only 7% met the Health Canada standard of daily physical activity longer than 1 hour of somewhat hard intensity or higher. Although there were 23 unadjusted factors associated with youth meeting the Health Canada standard, only 5 were significant after multivariate adjustment: 1) their fathers were employed (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, P = .027), 2) their parents watched them participate in physical activities or sports every day (OR 1.23, P < .001), 3) their friends encouraged them to do physical activities or sports every day (OR 1.19, P < .001), 4) their friends or classmates did not tease them for not doing well at physical activities or sports every day (OR 1.20, P = .001), and 5) they played sports or physical activities with coaches or instructors more than 4 times a week (OR 1.44, P < .001). CONCLUSION Given the low rates of physical activity among youth, we believe that a reduced list of independent risk indicators is required to focus our limited human and financial resources for successful intervention in the community.