University of Lethbridge Science Commons building. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

U of L to study youth physical activity levels around the world

Jul 26, 2022 | 10:31 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A team of researchers at the University of Lethbridge (U of L) wants to learn how active Canada’s youth are compared to the rest of the world.

The group, led by Dr. Richard Larouche, an associate professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Public Health Program, has received $1.5 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

He is collaborating with Dr. Mark S. Tremblay, a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa. Together, they will lead a group of 25 co-investigators, who will seek to compare physical activity levels between 14 countries on six continents.

Dr. Larouche says this could help to identify what strategies are proving to be more or less effective in certain countries at promoting exercise.

“We lack a comparable instrument to measure physical activity across countries,” says Larouche. “So, when we’re comparing different studies, some of the differences we see between countries may actually be differences in measurement rather than genuine differences in physical activity behaviours.”

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The team will develop an app-based questionnaire and determine its accuracy in measuring physical activity among youths ages five to 17 in low, middle, and high-income countries.

A media release from the U of L states that lower-income countries tend to have less participation in organized sports but may have higher levels of overall active play.

“Most of the questionnaires we have are developed in high-income countries like Canada, the United States, and European countries,” adds Larouche. “They tend to do a fairly decent job at capturing things like sport participation but to capture the more lifestyle-associated activities, they don’t do such a good job.”

Once the questionnaire is developed, a pilot study will include around 30 children and one of each of their parents in each of the 14 countries. From there, the main study will involve 500 children and their parents in each country.

Larouche says it is the biggest study he has ever led, estimating that they will need up to 100 post-secondary students and research staff in total.

“If we get the participation we want, which would be about 7,000 kids total, all levels of country income, based on the World Bank classification, and from urban and rural locations, we will have excellent data to work with that’s directly comparable,” says Larouche.

The goal of the study is to generate ideas for future policies or interventions around youth physical activity.