News from ParticipACTION

Usually January is the month earmarked for publicly voicing personal resolutions, and the vow to exercise more often ranks up there at the top of the list. But as a Canadian, I'm throwing this out for November - this is the month where we need an extra push to stay committed to making physical activity a priority.

This dark, often rainy, and blustery month practically beckons us to the couch for some serious cocooning. But if we all make it our November Resolution to get more active, we'll stride into the new year without skipping a beat.

So how to get committed and stay committed this month? One tried and true method is to use the power of belonging and commit to a group. In this month's newsletter our Active Living Ambassador, Catherine Cameron, talks about joining a walking club and how committing to a group is motivating, social and fun.

How about doing it for our kids? Our Research File this month reveals just how important parental behaviour is on influencing our children's physical activity levels. Committing to be active makes us powerful role models for our children.

So join me this month, in renewing our resolution to get more active, and each of us finding our own personal way to make a commitment to physical activity that sticks.

Warmly,

Kelly

ParticipACTION Updates

Interact and Share with us on YouTube!

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We heard you were interested in seeing and hearing more from us about physical activity and how YOU can incorporate moving more into your daily routine. Well, we answered your call and have extended our reach to you by way of YouTube!

ParticipACTION launched its very own YouTube Channel in October, and we encourage you to visit, take a look around and listen in on what we, and the entire country, are doing to help inspire and support Canadians to move more. Share these videos with friends, family, coworkers, and your network. Post comments and videos of your very own, or even subscribe to the Channel and get updates on the latest video releases.

Here's our Challenge to YOU Canada. Through YouTube, we're inviting you to share your commitment to physical activity. Whether it's you alone or with your family, friends, team, coworkers, school or entire community, we want to see you in action! Show us how you get moving and are committed to an active lifestyle. We're thrilled to have this opportunity to share and interact with Canadians in a whole new way. We look forward to seeing and hearing your stories soon!

Think About it - 2010/2011 Annual Report Launched

We are delighted to share our 2010/2011 ParticipACTION Annual Report with you. The important programs we have launched in the past year with our dedicated partners have moved us closer to our vision of making Canada the most active nation on earth. 0.9723076923076923

Thank you to all our partners and supporters. Your ongoing commitment is crucial to helping us achieve our mandate of getting Canadians to move more, every day. To those who have supported, encouraged or embraced physical activity for themselves or on behalf of others, we salute you. You are helping us make a difference today and for future generations. And to every Canadian, we extend an invitation to join our cause. Together, let's move Canada to get moving!

Sogo Active Grant Dollars Still Available for 2011

Sogo Active, the program that inspires youth to encourage each other to become more physically active, is hard at work in communities across Canada. To date, over 25,000 youth and 1,900 community hosts have joined Sogo, and many have taken advantage of the Sogo Active micro-grants to help fuel their own Sogo Active Challenge. In fact, in 2010, Sogo Active distributed close to $650,000 in grants that were put towards things like sports equipment, nutritious snacks, or 0.8594377510040161 physical activity instruction.

If your organization has a great idea for a physical activity event, or challenge, don't miss out - grant dollars are still available for 2011.

Applying for a grant is easy, and can be done in these few steps - all on the Sogo Active website;

Make sure that you are already registered as a Community Host.
Register a Sogo Challenge - your idea on a way to get youth physically active.
Fill out the Sogo Active Grant Application Form.

Then submit your completed grant application to your Provincial or Territorial Coordinator, and you will hear back from them in less than 6 weeks.

It's that simple. Don't delay, because 2011grant dollars will soon all be spoken for. Take advantage of this unique funding opportunity and be part of the movement that gets Canadian teens moving.

Kelly Murumets and ParticipACTION Featured in the November Issue of Best Health

Best Health magazine is featuring ParticipACTION's very own President and CEO, Kelly Murumets, as a Canadian woman who inspires others, in this month's issue of the magazine. Best Health, launched in 2008 from established publisher Reader's Digest, brings current, helpful and inspirational information on healthy active living to today's Canadian woman.

Kelly shares her personal healthy living experiences and tips in an article called "My Healthy Life", included in the Embrace Life section of the magazine. In the article, Kelly offers suggestions on how Canadians can easily turn their lives into a more healthy and well-rounded life with minimal effort. Kelly's healthy life suggestions include; building fitness into your day; embracing winter; getting happy; inspiring your kids; exploring Canada; and finding your inner volunteer.

For more information, or to read the full article, pick up the November issue of Best Heath - on newsstands now - or visit the Best Health website in the coming weeks to view the issue online.

The ParticipACTION Tool Kit offers FREE communication and promotional materials

To help inspire and inform Canadians, we've developed the ParticipACTION Tool Kit, which contains free communications materials that organizations can use to promote physical activity and sport participation.

Many of the materials are available to all. And if you are a ParticipACTION Partner Network (PPN) member, you can also access customizable materials.

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Tool of the Month: Download the After School Tips and Recommendations sheet for ideas on how to keep your kids active and safe after school. These sheets are ready for you to reprint for your newsletter, website, classroom, or family purposes.

Feel free to view and download additional articles on physical activity and sport participation or other great resources online at the ParticipACTION Tool Kit webpage.

Tips from ParticipACTION's Active Living Ambassador

Join a walking club!

0.9911504424778761 If you're looking to incorporate more physical activity into your life, walking is a terrific way to do it - and a walking club could be just what you're looking for!

Walking can boost your energy and help you get fit, have fun and meet others who share your goals. Walking groups and clubs are becoming increasing popular. Not sure where to begin? How about right here... with our list of reasons as to why you should consider joining a walking group.

1. Walking is great for your body. Regular walking can enhance your heart health by lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol and by reducing your risk of heart attacks and strokes. Walking also boosts your bone density.

2. You'll be motivated to stick with it. Many people find that exercising as part of a group is more motivating, more social and more fun.

3. You may lose weight. Walking for 30 minutes burns about 125 calories. This may not sound impressive at first, but imagine the calorie-burning benefits over a week, month and year. Ca-ching...!

4. Clubs are safe, social - and fun! Chat away with other club members who share your get-healthy goals. You'll make new friends, help to keep each other motivated, and as part of a group, particularly at nighttime, be safer.

5. Feel happier. Walking, especially in a green space, can make you feel happier and more relaxed, and help you sleep better too.

For more get-active ideas and tips, visit ParticipACTION's website at www.participACTION.com,

or check out our blog at www.participACTION.com/blog

Catherine Cameron

Active Living Ambassador

For more tips and articles written by Catherine Cameron, Ambassador, Active Living, or to chat with her, visit the ParticipACTION Blog. Keep up to date with the latest ParticipACTION news and join in on the discussion; become a fan of our FACEBOOK group, follow us on TWITTER or check out our BLOG.

Physical Activity News for Everyone

Environment Canada-Biosphere and Trans Canada Trail launch BioKit

The Trans Canada Trail is pleased to announce that the new Trans Canada Trail BioKit, the latest addition to Environment Canada's BioKit program aimed at families with young children, is now available. The purpose of the TCT BioKit, developed in collaboration with Environment Canada, is to inform Canadians about the value of local natural areas, to empower them to help protect these areas through the use and appreciation of the Trail, and 0.9771428571428571 increase their knowledge of biodiversity.

"The Trans Canada Trail offers Canadians of all ages an opportunity to experience our great country through a variety of activities, and the BioKit is an innovative means of introducing young people to the diverse nature of the Trail", says Deborah Apps.

For more information on the Trail Bio Kit, or for additional information on Trans Canada Trail, visit their website.

Quality Control: How to tell if your child's sports program is delivering

Physical Literacy

Most of us associate literacy with books and the written word, but the idea of "physical literacy" plays an important part in getting kids active in sport - and keeping them playing.

Just like learning your ABC's, physical literacy involves learning fundamental movement skills. These skills, learned at the appropriate time, are the foundation for learning more challenging sports skills later on.

Kids who are physical literate feel more competent and confident in participating in sport as they get older. Very often, it's feeling that they are not good enough to participate that drives kids out of sport.

Active For Life, an initiative of Canadian Sport For Life, aims to educate Canadians about the importance of physical literacy so that we raise a generation that continues to play sports, and be physically active, for life.

Quailty Sport Checklist

One of the tools that Active For Life provides on their website is a Quality Sport Checklist - a series of questions to ask your child's coach to determine if your own child's sports program is merely providing an opportunity for physical activity or goes beyond, and is helping to develop your child's physical literacy. Two different checklists are offered; one list is geared towards pre-school and school programs, and the other is a checklist for minor sports programs.

Go to the Active For Life website and determine whether or not your own child's program is encouraging maximum development of physical literacy. If not, Active For Life can arm you with great suggestions to pass along to coaches on how to improve your child's program - and a quality program is always a fun program.

Physical Activity News for the Sector

Ontario's Kids Are Missing in Action

Active Healthy Kids Canada releases the Ontario Supplement for the 2011 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

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The first ever separate Ontario Report Card was recently released that took a close and pointed look at how physical activity indicators for children and youth differ in Canada's most populous province. The Report Card was released by Active Healthy Kids Canada and its partners, Ophea, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute - Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO) and ParticipACTION.

Ontario was awarded an overall grade of D- for physical activity, besting the Canadian grade of F - but by no means is it a report card to be proud of.

"The indicators show that Ontario is slightly ahead of the country with regards to overall physical activity levels, but this is not a proud point," stated Rachel Colley, Scientific Officer for Active Healthy Kids Canada. "Less than half of Ontario's children and youth are accumulating sufficient steps to achieve desired health benefits and very few are getting the 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity they need every day."

Grades assigned for the Ontario Report Card include:

"D" for Active Play and Leisure
"F" for Sedentary Behaviour
"D" for Physical Education
"C" for Provincial Government Investments

The supplement goes beyond highlighting differences in the physical activity indicators, and provides recommendations for specific action that can take place in Ontario to change the health and physical activity levels of its children. Some of the strategies call for building on existing health and physical activity frameworks for action, increasing investment in health promotion to levels seen in leading provinces such as Quebec, and B.C., and targeting diverse and inactive populations.

Full copies of the short form and long form Report Card, in addition to other tools, can be found on the Active Healthy Kids Canada website.

Seed funding available for healthy eating and physical activity programs

The Minding Our Bodies project is seeking expressions of interest from community mental health agencies, consumer/survivor initiatives and other organizations in Ontario serving people with serious mental illness, for seed funding of up to $5,000 to start a healthy eating and/or physical activity program.

The expression of interest form is available on the Minding Our Bodies website at www.mindingourbodies.ca. The submission deadline is 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2011. Successful applicants will be announced in late December.

Minding Our Bodies is an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA Ontario) in partnership with Echo: Improving Women's Health in Ontario, Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, Nutrition Resource Centre, YMCA Ontario, and York University's Faculty of Health, with support from the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport through the Healthy Communities Fund.

For more information about the program visit the Minding Our Bodies website.

Research Update

Parent Influence on Children's Physical Activity

Whether we like it or not, we tend to emulate our parents' behaviours. Parents are the biggest single source of influence in a child's life, and parental support of healthy habits early on in a child's life will pay a lifetime of dividends.

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Physical activity is very important at any age and promotes physical, emotional, and social well-being. Parental support, which can take on many forms, is instrumental in increasing physical activity participation among kids and helping children grow up to be healthier adults. Whether it is scheduling active time together, being a spectator at your child's sporting events, or demonstrating your own commitment to regular exercise, it all adds up to an environment that produces more active kids.

Research indicates that children who receive greater parental support for physical activity, and have parents who rate physical activity as enjoyable, are more likely to be active at least 60 minutes per day.

In a nation where 93% of our children are not active enough to meet the Canadian Physical Activity guidelines and 26% are overweight or obese, parental support is essential to help get our kids on the healthy track.

For more information, see our Research Files.

For tips related to how to be a healthy role model for your child see our Lifestyle Tips.

Q & A

Q- I am a 76 year old mother of 3, grandmother of 6, and soon to be great-grandmother to twins. I want to stay healthy and active so I have the energy to keep up with 3 generations of family members. I've heard that more physical activity provides greater health benefits, and moving more will ultimately give me more energy to do the things I want to do. Am I too old for physical activity? What can I be doing to incorporate more physical activity into my life?

A-Let's start off by saying - age is no barrier! No matter what your age, you have it in you to feel energized, happy and full of life. Physical activity plays an important role in your health, well-being and quality of life by making you feel healthier and stronger, and helps you to stay independent longer.

You can help improve or maintain your health and energy levels by incorporating physical activity into your life. Here are some pointers on where you can start so you can build strength and stamina to keep up with your busy family life.

Start slowly. Make sure to listen to your body to determine what the right amount of physical activity is for you. Try to increase your activity level by 10 minutes at a time. Consult with a health professional before starting a new exercise program if you are not sure if it is too much or right for you.
Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines states that adults aged 65 years and older should take part in at least 2.5 hrs of moderate- to vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week. You can spread out the activities into sessions of 10 minutes or more each day if that works best for you.
Add muscle and bone strengthening activities (i.e. arm curls with cans of soup) using major muscle groups at least twice a week. This will help your posture and balance.
Take part in aerobic activities that make you feel warm and breathe deeply. Choose activities that you enjoy, so that it feels effortless to you. Activities like dancing, biking, or doing yard work can be fun and will increase your energy and improve your heart, lungs and circulatory system.
The more physical activity you do, the better you'll feel. So, walk wherever and whenever you can; take the stairs instead of the elevator, when possible; carry home your groceries; overall move around frequently -- every little bit helps.
Don't overdo it. Consult a health professional if you are unsure about the types or amounts of physical activity that are most appropriate for you.

Information above provided by PHAC.

For more information on Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines or tips and recommendations for older adults who are looking to get more active, visit the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology website or the Active Living Coalition for Older Adults website.

Got a question about getting more active? Visit our website to learn more about Moving More! Still can't find your answer? Connect with our Active Living Ambassador on our Blog, Facebook, and through Twitter, or send your questions to the editor at info@participACTION.com.

Professional Development

The Ontario Society for Health and Fitness 2011 Annual Conference

Toronto, ON

Nov 12

The Ontario Society for Health and Fitness is pleased to announce their 2011 Annual Conference. The day will incorporate a comprehensive line-up of speakers and hands-on sessions, including a special pre-diabetes training workshop led by York University's Physical Activity & Chronic Disease Unit.

Presentation topics and sessions will include:

Update on the PAR-Q+ and ePARmedX+
Physical activity and mental health
Physiology of aquatic exercise
Role of physical activity in cancer recovery
Hands-on kettlebell training
Pre-diabetes workshop

The OSHF encourages all their members to attend, and welcomes allied health practitioners, students, and kinesiologists from across Ontario, as well as members of the public interested in learning more about physical activity and health.

For full conference details or to register, please go to www.oshf.ca, or contact OSHF Membership Services at membership@oshf.ca or (877) 651-3755 ext. 222.

On the Move

CAAWS

Various locations in Canada

Various dates

On the Move is a national CAAWS (Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity) initiative designed to increase opportunities for inactive girls and young women (ages 9-18) to participate and lead in sport and physical activity.

For more information on the initiative, presentations that are offered, or how to attended, visit the CAAWS website.

International School Health Conference

Journées annuelles de santé publique (JASP)

Montreal, QC

Nov 28-29

The Journées annuelles de santé publique (JASP) has coordinated a two day conference dedicated to discussing the topic of health promotion in schools. All decision makers and stakeholders within Québec and from around the world interested and engaged in educational success, health and well-being of young people in the school setting are invited to this fundamental and key event.

For more information on the conference, or to register, visit the JASP website.

The ParticipACTION Partner Network - Building Strength in Numbers

Since the inception of the ParticipACTION Partner Network (PPN) in late 2009, a variety of not-for-profit and public-sector organizations have joined our ranks. The group shares a similar vision - to motivate and encourage Canadians to lead more active, healthy lives. With over 140 organizational members thus far, and with more and more organizations joining every week, the PPN is building strength in numbers.

The PPN is dedicated to those involved in the physical activity, recreation and sport participation sectors. ParticipACTION's belief is that the PPN will not only help support the work of individual member organizations, but will strengthen the physical activity and sport participation sector in Canada.

Membership in the PPN is free and voluntary, and provides organizations with the following benefits:

Access to desirable and valuable sector information through Partner Forums and free, easy-to-use communications and resource distribution channels
Membership to the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC)
Access to customizable ParticipACTION Tool Kit materials

For more information on the PPN and how the network can benefit you and your organization, visit the PPN webpage or contact Christa Costas-Bradstreet at ccbradstreet@participACTION .com.

Highlights and Events

Jingle Bell Run & Walk For Arthritis

Arthritis Society

Various locations across Canada

Month of November

The Jingle Bell Run & Walk For Arthritis is a non-competitive, fun-filled, family-oriented fundraising event for The Arthritis Society for arthritis research, client services, education programs. Dress in holiday-themed costumes, favourite characters or your running gear and tie jingle bells to your shoes!

The event is being held in various communities across Canada throughout November. For more information, or to locate an event happening in your community, visit the Arthritis Society website.

Perky Pilates

Pink Tulip Foundation

Toronto, ON

Nov 19

The Pink Tulip Foundation is putting on a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Prevention. Come on out for some Pilates and healthy refreshments. Each participant will receive a free Pilates matt. For more information on the event, or the Pink Tulip Foundation, visit the official website.

National Child Day

Nov 20

National

Get involved in your community or school and celebrate National Child Day. Obtain your own informational toolkit, with educational resources, caregiver information, and fun activities to take part in on this day. Visit the Public Health Agency of Canada website for these resources and more information on National Child Day.

Free After School Mini Putt

Putting Edge

Every Tuesday in November

Halifax, NS

If the kids are bored after school, why not get them involved in something fun and active? Putting Edge, in Halifax, is offering FREE mini putt for children every Tuesday night (3pm-9pm) during the month of November. Try it out with your children and incorporate some physical activity into the after-school time period. For more information visit the Putting Edge website.

Success Stories

A group of Ontario youth is the latest to respond to the 'call to action' from Coca-Cola Live Positively and ParticipACTION. Back Country Paintball has received a grant from Sogo Active to assist in offsetting costs to set up a weekly program for 45 youth. Youth ranging in age from 13 to 15 will get the chance to participate in the outdoor activity of paintball.

0.9615384615384616 "Paintball is a great way to stay active and to hang out with your friends," says Laura Bennison, a 19 year old student and program participant.

The funds from the SOGO program will help to lower the cost of the activity so that more youth can participate in this fun form of exercise. According to Joan Holmes of Paintball Ltd. "We are extremely grateful to Coca-Cola and ParticipACTION for awarding us with a Sogo Active grant. It's so much better for the kids than sitting on the couch playing video games."

Sogo Active is in every Province and Territory and since its inception has already distributed more than $2 million in grants supporting more than 25,000 youth.

To view the full story online.

View other Success Stories or submit your own on the ParticipACTION website.

If you would like to submit articles, events/programs or news to our e-newsletter, or for more information on ParticipACTION, please feel free to contact us by email at info@participACTION.com or visit our website at www.participACTION.com