Men more physically active than women, risk factors can disadvantage certain groups: StatCan

A greater proportion of men get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week compared to women, a new Statistics Canada report has found. (Pexels)

A greater proportion of men get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week compared to women, a new Statistics Canada report has found.

Released on Wednesday in StatCan's peer-reviewed journal Health Reports, the article found that a number of risk factors also put certain groups at a disadvantage.

The report found 49 per cent of men met the physical activity recommendation compared to 38 per cent of women.

On average, 45 per cent of Canadian adults met the recommendation.

The report used survey data collected over multiple cycles from 2007 to 2019 and studied the proportion of Canadians 18-79 who met the recommended 150 minutes.

It found that women were less active "regardless of age, income, education level, family arrangement, and health status."

The report also says only 32 per cent of young, single mothers met the physical activity recommendation, with low income, smoking and abdominal obesity identified as risk factors.

This is notable given the proportion of one-parent families with children increased to 16.4 per cent in 2021 from nine per cent in 1976. Mothers, the report says, account for more than 77 per cent of one-parent families.

The article is one of two published on Wednesday, the other focusing on the greater number of COVID-19 deaths among women compared to men in the early months of the pandemic.

For both men and women, the proportion of those who met the recommended amount of physical activity fell with age and increased with education and income.

Men and women with no spouse or children had among the highest rates of those who met the recommendation at 58.5 per cent and 45.1 per cent, respectively.

While older Canadians are less active than younger adults are, among older adults the differences become more noticeable for those with lower incomes and education, who live alone and who smoke. Younger Canadians with children at home are also less active than their counterparts who have no children.