Mount Royal University a partner in 10-year project

A unique long-term research project has begun looking at ways to improve the “physical literacy” of Calgary children to provide a foundation for an active lifestyle.

Cardel Place, a public recreation centre in the northeast, has partnered with researchers from Mount Royal University, with funding from the Flames Foundation for Life, to begin an extensive 10-year fitness project.

“We have a crisis of childhood obesity and the reality is that children are being disadvantaged,” said the project’s principal investigator, Dwayne Sheehan, an assistant professor in physical education at Mount Royal.

“Every child gets an opportunity to learn how to read and how to write in school, but not every child is getting an opportunity to learn physical literacy. We’re trying to help them develop a positive attitude over the next 10 years to help generate a group of children who turn into teenagers and eventually young adults that want to be physically active on a daily basis.”

A Canadian Health Measures survey released by Statistics Canada in January 2011 showed just seven per cent of Canadian children from five to 17 years old get a minimum of 60 minutes of daily exercise, and Canadians of all ages spend an average of 60 to 70 per cent of their wakeful hours being completely sedentary… Read More