Yukon's Minister responsible for Sport and Fitness Glenn Hart is encouraged by recent statistics showing that Yukoners aged five to 19 have the highest physical activity levels in Canada.

The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (CFLRI) statistics, which show that Yukon tied with Saskatchewan, were presented at a meeting of Ministers Responsible for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation in Victoria.

"I was pleased to hear that Yukon children lead the country in physical activity levels and that adult Yukoners are at least as fit as the national average," Hart said in press release. "I think it is important we all remember the benefits of active living."

The CFLRI has been surveying Canadian adults about their physical activity levels since 2003 and has been surveying children and youth since 2005.

As part of a commitment to further increase activity, ministers at the Victoria meeting agreed to institute Canada's first-ever national physical activity targets for children.

The 2015 targets aim to increase by seven per cent the number of Canadians aged five to 19 who participate in 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous daily physical activity, and increase the number of steps that children and young people physically take from 11,500 to 14,500.

The CFLRI will continue monitoring to see if Yukon children and youth meet the 2015 targets and whether the number of physically active adults in the Yukon increases by 10 percentage points by 2010.

The CFLRI's CAN PLAY report is at www.community.gov.yk.ca.