Rachel Colley

Statistics Canada | STATCAN · Division of Health Analysis

Background: Small area estimation refers to statistical modelling procedures that leverage information or "borrow strength" from other sources or variables. This is done to enhance the reliability of estimates of characteristics or outcomes for areas that do not contain sufficient sample sizes to provide disaggregated estimates of adequate precisi...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health approaches and disease-transmission varied widely across Canadian regions. This may have led to different trajectories for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and screen time during this period. The purpose of this investigation was to describe age- and gender-specific regio...

Background The growth of urban dwelling populations globally has led to rapid increases of research and policy initiatives addressing associations between the built environment and physical activity (PA). Given this rapid proliferation, it is important to identify priority areas and research questions for moving the field forward. The objective of...

Background: On average, 45% of Canadian adults meet the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. This singular statistic masks a wide range of adherence levels among different groups within the population. The purpose of this paper is to determine how sex, age, and family arrangement intersect with known risk fac...

Background: Canadian and international research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in health behaviours, including participation in physical activity and screen time. Methods: The Canadian Community Health Survey asks Canadian adults (aged 18 to 64 years) and older adults (aged 65 and older) to report the time they spend active...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes in health behaviours, including participation in physical activity and screen time. The purpose of this paper is to examine trends in physical activity and screen time among Canadian youth from January 2018 to February 2022. Methods: The Canadian Community Health Survey asks Canadian youth (ag...

Introduction Les activités de renforcement des muscles et d’amélioration de l’équilibre sont associées à la prévention des maladies et des blessures. Les Directives canadiennes en matière de mouvement sur 24 heures offrent des recommandations concernant les activités de renforcement de l’appareil locomoteur et d’amélioration de l’équilibre. Entre20...

Introduction Muscle-strengthening and balance activities are associated with the prevention of illness and injury. Age-specific Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines include recommendations for muscle/bone-strengthening and balance activities. From 2000–2014, the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) included a module that assessed frequency in 22...

Introduction: Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide. Neighbourhoods characterized by a high proportion of fast-food outlets may also contribute to hypertension in residents; however, limited research has explored these associations. This cross-sectional study assessed associations between neighbour...

Background: Data on meeting the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for adults (24-H Guidelines) and associations with health indicators by body mass index (BMI) class are needed to support public health surveillance. The aim of this study was to describe the proportion of Canadian adults meeting individual and various combinations of the 24-H Gu...

Introduction: The new Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults aged 18-64 years and Adults aged 65 years and older recommend that adults limit daily sedentary time to eight hours or less, including three hours or less of recreational screen time. The eight-hour recommendation was centred between the evidence from research using self-reported...

Objectives Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death. Neighbourhoods characterized by a high proportion of fast-food outlets may contribute to hypertension in residents; however, limited research has explored these associations. The objectives of this study were to assess associations between neighbourhood fast-f...

Background The measurement of physical fitness has a history that dates back nearly 200 years. Recently, there has been an increase in international research and surveillance on physical fitness creating a need for setting international priorities that could help guide future efforts. Objective This study aimed to produce a list of the top 10 inte...

Background: Recently, the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults were released, and included a revised physical activity (PA) recommendation. The recommendation of 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) was revised, from requiring that MVPA be accrued in bouts of 10 minutes or more (bouted) to having no bout requ...

Introduction: The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults, released in October 2020, recommend 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours for adults aged 65 and older, on a regular basis, with consistent sleep and wake times for health benefits. This study assesses the sleep behaviours of Canadian adults a...

Background Using a nationally representative cohort of Canadian adults, we assessed associations between neighbourhood walkability and cause-specific mortality and investigated whether they differed by socioeconomic status. Methods The study population was drawn from the 2001 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort, which contains individual...

Background: This study examined associations between sociodemographic factors and meeting versus not meeting the new Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommendations. Methods: The study is based on 7651 respondents aged 18-79 years from the 2007 to 2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey. Soc...

Background: The objective of this study was to create the Canadian Food Environment Dataset (Can-FED) and to demonstrate its validity. Data and methods: Food outlet data were extracted from Statistics Canada's Business Register (BR) in 2018. Retail food environment access measures (both absolute and relative measures) were calculated using netwo...

Background: The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults (18-64 years and 65 years or older) were launched in October 2020 and provide evidence-based recommendations for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. The purpose of this study was to examine whether meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines overall, and different combinatio...

This study determined if meeting the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommendations are associated with all-cause mortality. Participants were 3471 adults from the 2005–2006 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey followed for mortality over 11 years. They were classified as meeting or not meeting recommendations for sleep durat...

Background: The fitness levels of Canadian adults declined substantially between 1981 and the years 2007 to 2009, suggesting a reduction in population health. This paper updates the fitness trends of Canadians aged 20 to 69 years by extending the time period to 2017. Data and methods: The Canadian Health Measures Survey is a repeated cross-secti...

The family environment is an important influence on the health and behaviours of children. Few large-scale datasets include detailed and objectively measured health data about multiple individuals from the same family who are living in the same household. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is a repeating, cross-sectional survey that selects...

Background: Physical fitness is an important indicator of current and future health status. This analysis examines the relationships among child-parent dyads in physical fitness measures. Data and methods: The analysis is based on biological child-parent dyads from three cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (Cycle 1: 2007 to 2009, Cycle...

Background: Adults spend a large proportion of their day at work. Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) have been shown to vary considerably between occupations. The objective of this study is to describe occupational differences in accelerometer-measured and self-reported PA and SB for Canadian full-time workers. Data and methods:...

Background: The objective of this paper is to describe the exercise and changes in screen time habits, and their relationship with health, among participants of the Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS). Data and methods: Between March 29th and April 3rd 2020, CPSS participants (n = 4,524) reported whether they were exercising outdoors or i...

Background: Most population-based studies from Latin America have used questionnaires to measure physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB). Low reliability and validity of the questionnaires has limited the capacity to examine associations between PA and health. The purpose of this study was to compare self-reported and accelerometer–meas...

Background: While physical (in) activity surveillance has grown and continues to grow globally, surveillance of sedentary behaviour is in its infancy. As surveillance evolves to meet the changing nature of these behaviours, there is a need for the development of national health survey questions to provide accurate and consistent measures over time...

Background: This study developed age- and sex-specific normative-referenced percentile values for five physical fitness tests across a wide age range of Canadians, using a nationally representative sample. Data and methods: The data are from 5,188 Canadians (50.1% female) and were collected as part of cycle 5 of the Canadian Health Measures Surv...

Background: Physical fitness during childhood is an important indicator of current and future health. This paper provides an overview of the fitness of Canadian children and youth aged 6 to 19 years. Data and methods: Data are from three cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) spanning a 10-year period: 2007 to 2009 (n = 2,081), 200...

Background: Two-thirds of Canadian adults and one-third of Canadian children and youth are overweight or obese. There is increased interest in identifying features of the built environment-such as walkability-that facilitate lifestyle habits associated with reduced obesity and improved health. The purpose of this study is to examine how the associ...

Background: Walkability is positively associated with physical activity in adults. Walkability is more consistently associated with walking for transportation than recreational walking. The purpose of this study is to examine how the association between walkable neighbourhoods and physical activity varies by age and type of physical activity using...

Background: Surveillance of physical activity among Canadian adults has typically relied on questionnaire-based data, which have many limitations. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) has been collecting objective, accelerometer-based physical activity data on a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults since 2007. Data and method...

Background Generally, correlation and agreement between self-reported and accelerometer-measured physical activity are low. The objective of this study is to compare estimates of physical activity from a newly developed Canadian questionnaire with measurements by accelerometer among 12- to 17-year-olds. Data and methods Physical activity was self-...

Background: Self-reported and accelerometer-measured physical activity levels generally exhibit low correlation and agreement. The objective of this study is to compare estimates of physical activity among adults from a newly developed Canadian questionnaire with those obtained objectively by accelerometry. Data and methods: Data for 18- to 79-year...

Background: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sleep are positively associated with adults' health, while the association with sedentary behaviour (SED) is negative. Light-intensity physical activity (LPA) is emerging as an independent predictor of improved cardiovascular health. The health impacts of each of these factors have been...

Background The purpose of this review was to determine the most valid and reliable questions for targeting key modes of sedentary behaviour (SB) in a broad range of national and international health surveillance surveys. This was done by reviewing the SB modules currently used in population health surveys, as well as examining SB questionnaires tha...

Sample MEDLINE search strategy

Sedentary behaviour questionnaires with psychometric testing *, Total males and females, separate data not shown; %F, percentage of sample that is female; cpm, counts per minute; ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; LoA, limits of agreement; N/A, not applicable; NR, not reported; NS, not significant; r, correlation coefficient; SB, sedentary be...

Sedentary behaviour questions from national population health surveys CI, confidence interval; cpm, count per minute; ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; LoA, limits of agreement; NS, not significant; UK, United Kingdom; USA, United States of America; WHO, World Health Organization.

Background: New Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years have been released in 2017. According to the guidelines, within a 24-h period, preschoolers should accumulate at least 180 min of physical activity (of which at least 60 min is moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), engage in no more than 1 h of screen time, and obtain betw...

It has recently come to our attention that there is an error in the equation provided in Fig. 2 of the above-named manuscript. We apologize for this error and any inconvenience. The equation should be: y = 0.8213x + 612.56, R² = 0.5621. The corrected figure is here: (Figure presented.).

Background: This study describes and compares the percentages of Canadian children and youth who adhere to different operational definitions of the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation of 60 minutes per day. Data and methods: Data for 6- to 17-year-olds (n = 5,608) were collected from 2007 through 2015 as part of the Cana...

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adults has risen in Canada. Studies suggest that parent obesity is a risk factor for overweight and obesity in children. This analysis examines associations between biological parent and child body mass index (BMI) in a nationally representative sample of Canadian children. D...

Background: Parents influence the physical activity and sedentary behaviour of their children. This analysis examines associations between parental role modeling and support and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Data and methods: The sample consists of 1,328 biological parent-child pairs from the first three cycles of the Can...

Background The prominence of sedentary behavior research in health science has grown rapidly. With this growth there is increasing urgency for clear, common and accepted terminology and definitions. Such standardization is difficult to achieve, especially across multi-disciplinary researchers, practitioners, and industries. The Sedentary Behavior R...

Background: For preschool children, physical activity is associated with improved measures of health, while sedentary behaviour is associated with less favourable health outcomes. This study updates estimates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour among children aged 3 to 5, based on combined data from two cycles of the Canadian Health Measu...

Discrepancies between self-reported and objectively measured physical activity are well-known. For the purpose of validation, this study compares a new self-reported physical activity questionnaire with an existing one and with accelerometer data. Data collected at one site of the Canadian Health Measures Survey in 2013 were used for this validatio...

To determine whether directly measured physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns of obese children presenting to a weight-management clinic differs from nationally representative samples of obese and normal-weight children. A cross-sectional comparison study of 3 groups of boys and girls between 8 and 18 years (mean, 13.4 years) was perform...

Current guidelines recommend children accumulate 60 min of daily physical activity; however, highly publicized sudden-death events among young athletes raise questions regarding activity safety. An expert group convened (June 2012) to consider the safety of promoting increased physical activity for children, and recommended the publication of an ev...

Background: Systematic reviews and results of Statistics Canada surveys have shown a discrepancy between self-reported and measured physical activity. This study compares these two methods and examines specific activities to explain the limitations of each method. Data and methods: Data are from cycle 1 (2007 to 2009) and cycle 2 (2009 to 2011)...

Background Neck circumference (NC), is an emerging marker of obesity and associated disease risk, but is challenging to use as a screening tool in children, as age and sex standardized cutoffs have not been determined. A population-based sample of NC in Canadian children was collected, and age- and sex-specific reference curves for NC were develope...

This article examines the time trends in patterns of school travel mode among Canadian children and youth to inform the Active Transportation (AT) indicator of the 2013 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. The AT grade was assigned based on a comprehensive synthesis of the 2000 and 2010 Physical Activi...

To examine the associations of total sedentary time and patterns of sedentary time with cardiometabolic biomarkers in a large representative sample of Canadian adults. The study is based on 4,935 adults aged 20-79 years, from the 2007/09 and 2009/11 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Total sedentary time, patterns of sedentary time (≥20minute prolong...

The Canadian Health Measures Survey uses accelerometry to collect physical activity and sedentary behaviour data. Between cycles 2 and 3, a transition was made from 60-second to 15-second epochs in accelerometry data for children aged 3 to 5. This study examines the impact of epoch length on physical activity and sedentary behaviour outcomes. Twent...

The effect of active video games (AVGs) on acute energy expenditure has previously been reported; however, the influence of AVGs on other health-related lifestyle indicators remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) convened an international group of researchers to conduct a systematic review to understand wh...

We examined how obese children perceive a maximal cardiorespiratory fitness test compared with a submaximal cardiorespiratory fitness test. Twenty-one obese children (body mass index ≥95th percentile, ages 10-17 years) completed maximal and submaximal cardiorespiratory fitness tests on 2 separate occasions. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and overall perc...

The behavioural impact of an imposed bout of prolonged sitting is yet to be investigated in the paediatric population. The objective of the present study was to determine the acute effect of prolonged sitting on ad libitum food intake and spontaneous physical activity (PA) levels in healthy children and youth. A total of twenty healthy youth (twelv...

We examined how obese children perceive a maximal cardiorespiratory fitness test compared with a submaximal cardio-respiratory fitness test. Twenty-one obese children (body mass index $95th percentile, ages 10–17 years) completed maximal and submaximal cardiorespiratory fitness tests on 2 separate occasions. Oxygen consumption (VO 2) and overall pe...

-International guidelines recommend restriction of activities for many children and adolescents with inherited arrhythmia syndromes to moderate activity (< 7METs). We hypothesized that moderate levels of intensity would be exceeded during free-living daily activity in these individuals when assessed objectively by combined heart rate and accelerome...

Active video games (AVGs) have gained interest as a way to increase physical activity in children and youth. The effect of AVGs on acute energy expenditure (EE) has previously been reported; however, the influence of AVGs on other health-related lifestyle indicators remains unclear. This systematic review aimed to explain the relationship between A...

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Background The influence of the fractionalization of moderate- to vigorous- intensity physical activity (MVPA) throughout the week on the health of children is unknown. We compared cardiometabolic risk factors in physically active children who accumulated their weekly MVPA in different patterns. Methods We studied 745 participants aged 6–19 years....

The present article summarizes the results from the Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. The Report Card assessed the physical activity levels of Canadian children and youth nationally, and the initiatives of public and nongovernment sectors to promote and facilitate physical activity opportunitie...

Background Physical activity and sedentary behavior habits are established during early childhood, yet only recently has objectively measured data been available on children aged 5 years and younger. This study presents data on the physical activity and sedentary behaviors of Canadian children aged 3–5 years. Methods Data were collected as part of...

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the SC-StepMX pedometer for measuring step counts. A convenience sample of 40 participants wore 4 SC-StepMX pedometers, 2 Yamax DigiWalker pedometers, and 2 Actical accelerometers around their waist on a treadmill at 4 speeds based on each participant's self-paced walking speed (50%, 100%, 18...

Self-reported screen time is associated with elevated health risk in children and youth; however, research examining the relationship between accelerometer-measured sedentary time and health risk has reported mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between accelerometer-measured patterns of sedentary time and health...

Associations between sedentary time variables and body mass index, presented by sex and age groups.

Associations between sedentary time variables and waist circumference, presented by sex and age groups.

Associations between sedentary time variables and diastolic blood pressure, presented by sex and age groups.

Associations between sedentary time variables and non-HDL cholesterol, presented by sex and age groups.

Associations between sedentary time variables and systolic blood pressure, presented by sex and age groups.

Background: The impact of active school transport (AST) on daily physical activity (PA) levels, body composition and cardiovascular fitness remains unclear. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to examine differences in PA, body composition and cardiovascular fitness between active and passive travelers. The Medline, PubMed, Embase, PsycIn...

To examine the independent relation of physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) with measures of obesity in Mexican children. Children (N=193) in 5th and 6th grade from Guadalajara participated. Body mass index (BMI), sum of skinfolds (SS) and waist circumference (WC) were measured. PA was measured over four days using pedomet...

Background Physical activity (PA) provides widespread health benefits, including pediatric obesity prevention, but less than 10% of Canadian children meet PA guidelines and one in three are overweight or obese. Since PA levels track from childhood into adulthood, early intervention may increase the likelihood of a physically active lifestyle and as...

Physical inactivity is a global public health concern. The relationship between dependent children in the home and parental physical activity has not been quantified using objective measures, nor has the relative association of the physical activity levels of mothers and fathers been examined. To investigate the association of children of different...

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between the Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope (OUES) and traditional measures of cardiorespiratory function in an overweight/obese pediatric sample. Maximal treadmill exercise testing with indirect calorimetry was completed on 56 obese children aged 7-18 years. Maximal OUES, submaximal O...

North Americans spend half their waking hours engaging in sedentary behaviour. Although several recent interventions suggest that short bouts of uninterrupted sedentary behaviour may result in acute increases in cardiometabolic risk, this literature has not been reviewed systematically. This study performed a systematic review of the impact of unin...

The 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) collected directly measured physical activity on seven consecutive days for a representative sample of the population aged 6 to 79. Based on the CHMS, half of the active minutes in a day are accumulated between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. For children, the most active period is lunch-time (11:00...

The accurate measurement of time devoted to physical activity, sedentary pursuits and sleep is difficult and varies considerably between surveys. This has implications for population surveillance and understanding how these variables relate to health. This sample of children (n = 878) was from the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Moder...

The present article summarizes the results from the Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. The Report Card assessed the physical activity levels of Canadian children and youth nationally, and the initiatives of public and nongovernment sectors to promote and facilitate physical activity opportunitie...

Introduction: The recent UN Declaration on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) highlights the global importance of healthy active living for the preservation and enhancement of health. Recent increases in childhood physical inactivity, sedentary behaviour and obesity in high, middle and even low income countries is of particu...

Many limitations exist with completing cardiorespiratory fitness testing in obese children. The aim of this study was to determine if the new Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group's (HALO's) submaximal cardiorespiratory fitness testing protocol for obese children and youth provides a comparable estimate of peak oxygen uptake to that meas...

The health of Canadian children and youth has deteriorated in the past few decades and physical inactivity is a powerful contributor. Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC; www.activehealthykids.ca) is a national not-for-profit organization with a mission to inspire the nation to engage all children and youth in physical activity by providing expertise...

There is a lack of robust evidence to support a daily step count target that equates to current physical activity guidelines in children and youth. This information would be useful to researchers and practitioners who are using pedometers to monitor physical activity. Accelerometer and pedometer data collected on children and youth age 6-19 yr in t...

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Previous studies suggest that British children of South Asian origin are less active and more sedentary than White British children. However, little is known about the behaviours underlying low activity levels, nor the familial contexts of active and sedentary behaviours in these groups. Our aim was to test hypotheses about differences between Brit...

To perform a methods comparison of a left or right half-body scan versus whole-body scan for measuring body composition in a sample of obese children. A group of obese children (n = 58; ≥ 95th BMI percentile; 8-18 years) were required to undergo a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) body composition measurement as part of an ongoing cohort study...

Actical accelerometer thresholds have been derived to enable objective measurement of time spent performing sedentary activity in children and adolescents, but not adults. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine Actical accelerometer sedentary activity thresholds for adults. Data were available from 3187 participants aged 6 to 79 years fro...

Background Physical activity is an important determinant of health and fi tness. This study provides contemporary estimates of the physical activity levels of Canadians aged 6 to 19 years. Data and methods Data are from the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. The physical activity of a nationally representative sample was measured using a...