Canadian kids are woefully inactive and should be encouraged to play in natural settings and take risks, according to an annual report released Tuesday.

The Participaction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth says parents who are overprotective of their child’s play, or keep them indoors because it’s perceived to be safer, are actually hurting their child’s long-term health.

“Get kids outside,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, chief scientific officer of the report and director of the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (HALO-CHEO).

“They will be more active as a result and less sedentary ... And, a higher danger lurks on the Internet, indoors.”

Among the grades in the report card was a D minus for overall physical activity, in part because just nine per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds meet daily recommendations of at least one hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. (The grade remains unchanged for three years in a row.) By comparison, 70 per cent of 3- and 4-year-olds get the recommended 180 minutes a day of activity.

The report card, titled The Biggest Risk is Keeping Kids Indoors, is based on data from various sources, including peer-reviewed research. For the first time in 11 years, the report includes a position statement developed by HALO-CHEO and 12 other organizations, which promotes active outdoor play. It also contains recommendations aimed at, for instance, parents, educators, health professionals, municipalities, even attorneys general.

Toronto mom Jaimie Cowles, whose children spend as much time playing outdoors as possible, needs no convincing of its benefits. While at the park, she doesn’t really supervise her kids, Hanna, 7, and Ben, 5. Instead, she lets them explore and play on their own, which builds social skills and self-assurance.

“It’s allowed them to take small risks that will give them the tools they need to take bigger risks later,” says Cowles. “They can assess what’s going to be ‘dangerous’ — obviously, we’re not exposing them to actual danger but what they perceive to be dangerous.”

Tremblay says parents who over-supervise their children are minimizing their child’s resiliency, decision-making capabilities and executive functioning.

“These are, of course, the features that we want our kids to develop. And in order for them to develop, you’ve got to allow them to take some risks. ”

Sure, your kid may come home with a scraped knee, he says, adding serious injuries happen periodically and catastrophic injuries occur very rarely. But that’s no justification for over-supervising kids or prohibiting active outdoor play because the long-term consequences of sedentary behaviour are a variety of mental and physical health issues, including the development of heart disease, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

“Sanitizing and bubble wrapping the entire population to prevent what, in many cases is the unpreventable, is sacrificing the whole population,” he says. “Mental and emotional health issues are on the rise like crazy now because kids have no ability to deal with things. We’ve never given them a chance .”

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Tremblay, who is 54, would like to see a shift away from so-called helicopter-parenting, to the kind of parenting he and many adults grew up with, which some refer to as free-range parenting. His childhood was filled with long days spent discovering the outdoors with other kids, climbing trees, biking on hills and building forts.

“We’re actually compromising healthy child development by hovering over them so much, keeping them sanitized and indoors, with the misguided belief that that’s the safest thing for them.”

Report Card on Physical activity of Canadian kids

D- Overall physical activity: Nine per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds meet daily recommendations of at least one hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

D Active transportation: Twenty-five per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds get to and from school through active means, such as walking, biking or rollerblading.

B- Organized sport and physical activity participation: According to parents, 75 per cent of 5- to 19-year-olds take part in organized sports and physical activities.

D- Sedentary behaviours: Twenty-four per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds meet the recommended daily screen time (computers, television, etc.) of less than two hours a day.

C+ Physical education and activities in school: Seventy-seven per cent of parents of children, aged 5 to 17, say their kid’s school offers physical activity programs in addition to gym class. Just 53 per cent say their kids participate in them.

How to get kids outdoors

Parents: Encourage outdoor play and support your children in taking risks, so that they have more fun and learn to assess risk.

Educators and caregivers: Use the outdoors, despite weather conditions, for opportunities in learning, socialization and physical activity.

Health professionals: Promote play in nature and suggest outdoor places, such as parks, to parents and children.

Schools and municipalities: Review policies and bylaws that hinder active outdoor play.

Attorneys general: Set reasonable liability limits for municipalities.

Municipal and provincial governments: Protect public entities from frivolous lawsuits related to minor injuries from outdoor play.

Media: Offer balanced reporting. Recognize that stories about predators and dangers increase people’s fears.

By the Numbers

SOURCE: The Participaction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth