I mentioned that physical inactivity levels are at 28%, down 11% from before the pandemic. We weren't doing a great job with kids and their physical activity before the pandemic, but it's even worse now.
Along with all the things I just said about active kids being healthier kids, happier kids, and doing better in school, there is a very strong economic argument related to health care costs down the road.
The challenge with physical activity is that I can't show the implications today. The implications are 10 to 20 years from now, and as policy-makers and leaders, we need to think about the future of our country from a health care perspective. If we don't get Canadians, people living in Canada, more active, we're going to pay for it down the road. Either we can invest now into programs and policies and approaches that encourage and support people to get active or we'll have to pay for it from a health care perspective down the road. There is a strong argument there.
The other thing I would say is that we're falling behind on an international scale. Canada prides itself in being a leader. Our organization works with 58 other countries in monitoring physical activity for children and youth, and we're ranked 28 out of the 58 countries. They're all using our report card format. They leverage our insights and our thought leadership, but many of them have implemented policies that have generated significant results while we fall further behind. I would suggest that out of national pride, we need to do better as a country.