Western Australian children still not active enough

More than half of Western Australian children are at risk of health problems as adults because they are still not participating in enough healthy activities.
The key findings of the 2008 Western Australian Child and Adolescent Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (CAPANS) show the majority of children are not active enough and many are not eating enough fruit and vegetables. This behaviour usually worsened into adolescence.
CAPANS was commissioned by the Physical Activity Taskforce and follows 2003 research monitoring child and adolescent physical activity, nutrition and behaviour.
Western Australia's Sport and Recreation Minister and Chair of the Physical Activity Taskforce, Terry Waldron, said one positive outcome from the report was childrenâs physical activity levels had not appeared to have decreased since 2003.
Minister Waldron explained âagainst the social trend of more sedentary behaviour, including participating in screen-based entertainment, children seem to have maintained their 2003 levels of physical activity.
âAbout 60% of boys in primary and secondary schools and more than 70% of primary school girls are also not getting the recommended amounts of activity.
âSecondary school girls are most at risk, with 90% not meeting the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.�?
The 2008 CAPANS pedometer study showed minimal improvements since 2003, with about 60% of children still not achieving the recommended daily step count.
However, fruit and vegetable consumption had improved since 2003.
Minister Waldron added âoverall there has been an increase in the number of children eating the recommended amount of fruit, and a significant increase in the number of secondary school girls eating the recommended amount of vegetables.
âWhile this is positive, we are still concerned this is a small proportion and the majority of children need to eat more of these foods and eat them more often.�?
The CAPANS 2008 key findings:
⢠The majority of children reported participating in more than two hours of screen-based recreation on one or more days of the previous week;
⢠Boys reported playing movement-based video games as their most common active play activity. Girls reported playing with pets as their most common active play activity;
⢠The proportion of secondary school students using active transport home from school has increased since 2003;
⢠Two in five primary school students usually eat the recommended amount of vegetables and three in five usually consume the recommended amount of fruit for their age;
⢠One in four secondary school students usually consume the recommended amount of fruit for their age. A similar proportion usually eat the recommended amount of vegetables;
⢠Overall consumption of fruit has increased since 2003, both in the proportion and amount eaten.
Minister Waldron said children who learned healthy lifestyle habits at an early age usually continued them for life.
âRegular physical activity and a nutritious diet provide benefits to the development of physical, mental and social health in children and adolescents.�?
The Physical Activity Taskforce was established in 2001 to oversee the development and delivery of a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach to increasing physical activity levels in Western Australia. The taskforce comprised government, non-government, academic and local government agencies.
CAPANS was commissioned by the Physical Activity Taskforce in 2008 and data was collected from 1,827 students in primary school years three, five and seven and secondary school years eight, 10 and 11.
Edith Cowan University conducted the WA survey and the final report of CAPANS 2008 will be available in 2010.