REAL Kids Alberta - Home

Summary of Results for REAL Kids Alberta 2008

  • Substantially more grade 5 children are overweight or obese than estimates from an earlier study in 2004 (Canadian Community Health Survey), which indicated that 22% of Alberta children and youth aged 2 to 17 were overweight or obese.
  • The majority of Grade 5 students are not meeting Canada's Food Guide recommendations.
  • Of all Grade 5 students in Alberta, about half spend three hours or more per day in front of a screen outside of school hours. This exceeds recommendations from the Canadian Paediatric Society of two hours or less per day of total screen time.
  • The majority of Grade 5 students are not sufficiently physically active.
  • Parent responses indicated strong support for a school environment that promotes healthy eating and daily physical activity.

Mock School Report

School reports were sent to all participating school principals and school districts following the analysis of the REAL Kids Alberta data. These reports share findings that are meaningful to schools by comparing the school or district with the provincial average for student nutrition, physical activity, and parental support of policy. Once the 2012 data is collected and analyzed, all participating schools and districts will receive a comparative summary report of the 2012 results.
This mock report does not show true individual school data, but the provincial average for 2008 is accurate: View PDF

Recent Publications

Vander Ploeg KA, Wu B, McGavock J, Veugelers PJ. Physical Activity Among Canadian Children on School Days and Non-School Days. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2011.    Show/hide info

Wu XY, Ohinmaa A, Veugelers PJ. Diet quality, physical activity, body weight and health-related quality of life among grade 5 students in Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 2012; 15(1): 75-81.    Show/hide info

Simen-Kapeu A, Veugelers PJ. Socio-economic Gradients in Health Behaviours and Overweight Among Children in Distinct Economic Settings. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2010; 101(9): S32-S36.

Simen-Kapeu A, Veugelers PJ. Should public health interventions aimed at reducing childhood overweight and obesity be gender-focused? BMC Public Health, 2010.

Wu X, Ohinmaa A, Veugelers PJ. Socio-demographic and neighbourhood determinants of health-related quality of life among grade five students in Canada. Quality of Life Research, 2010; 19(7): 969-76.    Show/hide info

Carson V, Kuhle S., Spence J, Veugelers PJ. Parents' Perception of Neighbourhood Environment as a Determinant of Screen Time, Physical Activity and Active Transport. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2010; 101(2): 124-27.    Show/hide info

Simen-Kapeu A, Kuhle S. Veugelers PJ. Geographic Differences in Childhood Overweight, Physical Activity, Nutrition and Neighbourhood Facilities: Implications for Prevention. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2010; 101(2): 128-32.    Show/hide info

Davidson Z, Simen-Kapeu A, Veugelers PJ. Neighbourhood determinants of self-efficacy, physical activity, and body weights among Canadian children. Health & Place, 2010; 16: 567-572.    Show/hide info

Spitters H, Schwartz M, & Veugelers P. Parent and student support for school policies that promote healthy eating and active living. Physical and Health Education Journal 2009, 52(2), 30-34.    View PDF   Show/hide info