Ninety-three per cent of children nationwide are falling below the minimum requirement for daily exercise of 60 minutes per day.

Kelly Murumets, president and CEO of ParticipACTION, estimated that the percentage was higher in Whitehorse.

Murumets was in the territory last week to meet with local organizations to help create initiatives designed to get Yukoners, young and old, more active.

"I wanted to hear from those folks, what are they doing, what kinds of activities are going on in the territory and what's working and what's not working, and what we heard is that there are a lot of very committed, very passionate folks who are working on this, because we do have an inactivity crisis in our country,” Murumets said.

"Only seven per cent of our kids meet the daily physical activity guidelines. So that means 93 per cent of our kids don't get one hour of physical activity per day.

Ninety-three per cent. And in the Yukon it's even lower.”

A lot of good work has already been done locally, she pointed out.

"Part of my visit was to understand what good work is being done – and there's tons of great work that's being done – and the second is to ask, ‘How can ParticipACTION support you more?' she said.

"I think it's really important, given that we're a national organization, that we represent Canadians from coast to coast to coast. I travel to all parts of the country. One to let people know what we're doing; but more importantly, to listen to, to understand what you guys are doing.”

Murumets met with local organizations at the Canada Games Centre, including Parks and Recreation officials with the City of Whitehorse and Yukon Government, the Elder Active Recreation Association and the Arctic Health Research Network, among others.

She attributed young Yukoners' inactivity to the frigid winters which keep kids indoors after school.

"I think that it's so cold, and so people kind of hunker down when it gets so cold and they don't go outdoors and they're not active. What I heard from all of my colleagues in Whitehorse, was that more and more they're working together to talk about getting people outdoors, even in this great big popsicle of a country of ours, and keeping them active, particularly kids,” Murumets said.

After school hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are especially critical to keeping kids active, she said.

"In the country right now, after school is a huge area of potential, but it's a huge issue. So between the hours of 3-6, kids aren't active. It's a primetime for them to be active,” she said.

Yet many Canadian children and youth are sitting idle indoors – only getting 14 minutes (out of a possible 180 minutes) of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity. This means 92 per cent of after-school time is spent in light or sedentary activities.

Playing video games or being on the phone, for instance, Murumets said.

"What these organizations (in Whitehorse) told me, is more and more they're working to figure out, ‘How do we get kids to the Canada Games Centre,' or,

‘How do we get kids riding their bikes together in the summer months,' or,

‘How do we get kids playing out in the snow, where they're supervised, they're safe, it's not expensive, but they're getting physical activity.' I think that's a huge initiative.”

She pointed out the potential of programs at the Canada Games Centre as being a push in the right direction.

"The Canada Games Centre is phenomenal. It is a world-class centre. It's beautiful. I get to travel the whole country; it's one of the nicest facilities I've seen in the country,” Murumets said.

"You don't have to be an athlete or don spandex to go there. You could go and just play. Kids can go there and play and it doesn't feel like they're exercising at all. They're just in there playing as kids should do.”

Common perception is that children and youth involved in sports two, three days a week is enough.

That amount is too low, Murumets said, noting the current campaign entitled, ‘Think Again.'

"It says, ‘We know you love your kids, we know you would do anything in their best interest, but you should Think Again, because you probably think your kids are getting enough physical activity at school, at the Canada

Games Centre once a week or if they play hockey two nights a week. But you got to think again, because they're not, they're not getting 60 minutes per day, everyday.'”

Added Murumets:

"I think people understand that physical activity is important; I don't think they understand the extent that it is important. I don't think they understand that their kids aren't active enough.”