Speaking from my experience in recently visiting first nation communities as well, where there is very little in the way of physical activity and physical education going on in the schools, one of the things we have learned from an analysis of Statistics Canada data is that there is a direct link between sports and recreation activities and first nation school success. It is one of the factors that we think makes a significant difference.
School attachment is the other factor. Even if you think of yourself or your own children...certainly for me, if I think about my high school years, I might not have stuck with it if it hadn't been for the sports and recreation programming. So in addition to the physical activity benefits, you also have school attainment benefits, which, through a determinants of health lens, helps us to break through the cycles and make sure that populations can stay healthy into the future.