Black communities less likely to meet PA guidelines
The Canadian physical activity guideline recommends to adults (18-65), to accumulate 150 mins of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic PA /week with at least 10mins/session. (Moderate-intensity: sweat a little and to breathe harder. (Brisk walking / Bike riding); Vigorous-intensity: sweat and be ‘out of breath’ (Jogging / Cross-country skiing)). Moreover, a strength training at least 2 days/week is recommended.
Worldwide, 1/4 adult is physically inactive (PinA) and about 5.3 million deaths /year are attributable to PinA (1). In Canada, only 16.4% of Canadians meet national PA guideline. 17.8% for males and 15 % for females (2). The cost to Canadians is about 10 billion $/year (3) and about 1 billion in British Columbia 4. PinA became the 4th leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases (5). For instance, the increased risk of stroke due to PinA is 1.60 in Canada (6).
Unfortunately, ethnic data regarding PA is scarce in Canada. Even though many indicators pointed towards probable higher numbers of PinA among Blacks and Indigenous communities, such as higher risk of chronic diseases associated with PinA. Moreover, in USA, the national surveillance systems observed a less likelihood rate to meet PA federal guidelines among minorities’ racial groups (7-8).
