GRAHAM PAINE CANADIAN CHAMPION David Kittner of jumpRope.com Ieads a group off sffudents in stretching prior to onareing a rope jump- ing evene an Chris Hadfieîd Schoo Wedniesday. JumpRope.com gave the school 800 skipping ropes for Ots students ta gen active and healnhy. Screen time concerning: study t romn CHILDREN on page Al per cent of boys are getting the recommend- c d 60 minutes of daity moderate to, vigorous -physical activlny, according to the newty relcascd Canadian t lcaîah Measures survey. These low percentagcs garnered an F grade from Active Heathy Kids Canada in the iphysical activity levelo category The survey also shows Canadian children are taking almost 2,400 fewer steps daily than their European counterpars. "It breaks my heart when t walk by a play- ground and its flot in use. We've got to make spaces in our communities where children are encouraged to be active. We create too many places where they're discouraged to be active, like movie theatres with huge gaming areas,' Munro said. She said unstructured physical activity, such as a gamne of tag, gets kido moving much more than organized sports, where often kids spend a lot of time waieing for their turn to play. Screen time is another area of concern, with young Canadians also, scoring an F in this category Six to 19-year-olds spend an average of six hours a day with their eyes glued teo television and compu ter screens, the vurvey showed. Ptaying video games iv a highly sedentaey acttvety, but Munro said there's another danger. "The difficulty with gaming iv that you can get reatty good in a weekend. You're con- stantty given rewards and the game iv struc- tured vo, you're convtantty improving... as an aduit we know thats not reat. In the real wortd ehings take longer to bc realty good at. But witb children, they are making these connections. Ift was kid xsby wouîd 1 Icarn no swrrn or try to be a great tennis player wben it takes so long to, achieve." In the Active Transportation category, youngsters were given a 'D', with only 24 per cent of parents saying their kidv onty use active forms of transportation to get to and from veboot. Forty-two per cent of parents Say their kids are always driven to, sehoot, but many survey respondents vaid they woutd lt their chitdren walk or cycle to ochoot if they weren't atone. "As a parent t'm terrified to tell my veven- year-otd daughter to watk to, vchoot, but 1 did that in Seniour Kindergarten," said Munro. "Sometbingv happened fromt a safety and pvychotogical view thats made that difficult." She continued, "Real data shows its not more unsafe at ait. But theres more media coverage thats heightened our venve of safe- ty concerns. In realty, its flot more danger- ous now than when we were cbildren. " For the last eight yearv Active Hatton hav encouraged more phyvical activity in the region, with a goal of increaving residents' activity levets by 20 per cent by 2012. Active Hatton co-chair Frank Prospero said the Regions aging population iv an area where the group would tike to focus. "We've got to, get peopte out watking." Chrivtieaa Commîsvo can be reached at Foot Health and Aging As a person ages, their teet tend to spnead and lose the tatty pad that cushions the bolfom of their lent. Additional weight can affect the hanes and ligament stractares, Consequently, otder people would have thein teet measaned for shot sîne more trequenty, rather than pnesuming that thein shat size remains constant Dny skin anld brimfe naits are other conditions older people commonly tact, which cao be managed with a good ematiient. Finatly, its a tact bhat women, yaog and aId, have taonr limes as many foot prablems as men, and high heels are offent tht caîprits. Howeven, tht etdenly de not have te suifer with palotaI teet. Preventative foot htatth is the key to sacctss. il has many beottis Chiet among te mare that il cao increase comtodt, timit the possibiliy af additiaoa medical pnobtems, reduc the chance oI hospitalization, btcaase nI intection, and lessert reqaînemnents ton otet n stibdiona cane. WECAMNHELP! MeKalFoot Sguon m#ui.bRt uthvllino E.Sc. D.CI & Jonllan Hasiohurui B.A.D.Ch. "Praviding Innovation Healing Solutions" 350 Main StretEast, Milton cati, (289) 878-7334