Physical Activity | Healthy Families BC

Blog Physical Activity

Velo City Global 2012...Arrives in Vancouver!

June 25, 2012 by Marc Faktor, Certified Exercise Physiologist | Posted in: Physical Activity | Tags: Velo City Global, cycling, bikes

For those that don’t know, Velo-city Global is the world’s premier international cycling and planning conference. It’s a four day event, jam packed with great sessions and offers delegates from around the globe, the chance to share the best practices for initiating, developing and sustaining cities that are friendly to cyclists. A place where bicycles are acknowledged as a valuable part of daily transportation as well as recreation!

The goal for Velo-city Global 2012 is to make public & highlight Vancouver's awesome achievements, successes and areas for improvements as a “cycling starter” city.

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Getting Into Shape for Summer

June 18, 2012 by Marc Faktor, Certified Exercise Physiologist | Posted in: Physical Activity | Tags: healthy weight, getting started

Summer is almost here and there’s no better time for people to start taking action to improve their health and body image. To set the stage, I thought it would be a good idea to do a little bit of Q & A, by sharing part of a recent interview I participated in.

Question
What are some destructive and unhealthy trends that you see people engaging in as "quick fixes" to rapidly lose weight, add muscle to build beach ready bodies?

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Saving Active Play from Extinction

June 12, 2012 by Marc Faktor, Certified Exercise Physiologist | Posted in: Kids Corner, Physical Activity | Tags: kids, youth, children, play

Last week we introduced the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity and highlighted an area needing significant improvement (i.e. Active Play).

Even though children were failing to achieve healthy levels of active play throughout the nation, it was interesting to see that the majority of children would choose active play over screen time and sedentary activities if provided with the opportunity!

Here are some creative ways to foster active play and support your child's health, growth and development:

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Is Active Play Extinct?

June 4, 2012 by Marc Faktor, Certified Exercise Physiologist | Posted in: Kids Corner, Physical Activity | Tags: play, children, physical activity

On May 29th 2012, Active Healthy Kids Canada released the 2012 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Among some of the key grades on the report card, Canadian kids didn’t pass the “active play” domain with flying colors.

Quoting the report card, here are a couple key facts contributing to this lack of active play:

Canadian kids spend 63% of their free time, after school and on weekends, being sedentary. Instead of playing outdoors, Canadian kids in Grades 6 to 12 are spending 7 hours and 48 minutes per day in front of screens.
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Bike to Work Week

May 28, 2012 by Marc Faktor, Certified Exercise Physiologist | Posted in: Physical Activity | Tags: bike, work, physical activity, fit, exercise

Bike to work week has arrived! No better way to foster increased activity, better health and improved quality of life than strapping on your helmet, slipping into your favourite cycling shoes, and saddling up on your metal (or carbon fibre) horse for the morning and afternoon commute!

By now you should have your bike tuned up and ready to rock. If it’s still hiding out in the garage and you're not accustomed to tuning it up yourself, take it to your local bike shop for a spring spruce up.

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