Few in Canada exercise enough

OTTAWA, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Fifteen percent of Canadian adults achieve the recommend 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week, health officials report.

The Canadian Health Measures Survey, published by Statistics Canada, indicates the guidelines for adults were achieved by 17 percent of men and 14 percent of women. In addition, 53 percent of adults accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity one or more days a week, but 47 percent do so less than one day a week of physical activity.

About 5 percent of adults accumulate 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity -- 30 minutes at least five days a week -- on a regular basis, the report says.

The survey finds while physical activity guidelines suggest children and teens ages 5-17 should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily, only 7 percent attain this level of activity -- 9 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls.

The Canadian Health Measures Survey used accelerometers -- a device that measures acceleration -- to collect objective measures of physical activity and sedentary behavior for a nationally representative sample of Canadians ages 6-79.

The adults spend about an average of 9.5 hours a day in sedentary pursuits, or 69 percent of their waking hours, and minors are inactive 8.6 hours a day, or 62 percent of their waking hours, the report says.