Daily patterns of physical activity among Canadians

The 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) collected directly measured physical activity on seven consecutive days for a representative sample of the population aged 6 to 79. Based on the CHMS, half of the active minutes in a day are accumulated between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. For children, the most active period is lunch-time (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), and for teenagers aged 15 to 19, the after-school period (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Children and youth are more active on weekdays than on weekends. Active children and youth tend to accumulate more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity after school, whereas active adults do so at lunch time.