Paediatricians' awareness of, agreement with and use of the new Canadian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for children and youth zero to 17 years of age.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the awareness of, agreement with and use of the new Canadian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for children and youth zero to 17 years of age in a sample of Canadian paediatricians.


METHODS
The findings are based on responses from 331 paediatricians across Canada who completed an online survey in February 2013. Frequencies were calculated for each question.


RESULTS
Few paediatricians reported being very familiar with the physical activity (6% for the early years, and 9% for children and youth) or sedentary behaviour guidelines (5% for the early years, children and youth). When made aware of the guidelines, a large percentage strongly agreed or agreed with the physical activity (99% for the early years, and 96% for children and youth) and sedentary behaviour recommendations (96% for the early years, and 94% for children and youth). Of paediatricians who performed well-child visits, 16% and 27% reported almost always making physical activity and sedentary behaviour recommendations, respectively, to parents or caregivers of children in the early years, compared with 37% for both behaviours among children and youth. Thirty-nine per cent (for the early years) and 46% (for children and youth) of paediatricians reported it would be highly feasible to briefly explain the guidelines at a well-child visit. The most common barriers reported for recommending the guidelines were insufficient motivation or support from parents, caregivers or youth, and lack of time.


CONCLUSIONS
To increase the use of these new evidence-informed guidelines, strategies are needed to increase paediatricians' awareness and reduce perceived barriers.
Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta; ; Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario;
Valerie
V
Carson
Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec;
Claire Ma
CM
Leblanc
Canadian Paediatric Society, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
Elizabeth
E
Moreau
Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario; ; Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
Mark S
MS
Tremblay
Children; Guidelines; Paediatricians; Physical activity; Sedentary behaviour; Youth