Physical Literacy Domain Scores in Canadian Children Meeting and not Meeting Canada’s Physical Activity Guidelines

Abstract

PURPOSE: To compare differences in physical literacy (PL) domain scores between Canadian children meeting Canada’s physical activity (PA) guidelines and those not meeting the guidelines. METHODS: Children (n = 2,215) aged 8-12 years, with parental consent, from seven Canadian provinces had their PL levels measured by trained research staff using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL). The CAPL is valid, reliable, and consists of 4 domains (physical competence; daily behaviour; knowledge and understanding; and motivation and confidence) that provide a composite PL score—scoring was adjusted for age in all domains and for sex in the physical competence domain. Weekly PA levels were measured by pedometers that were worn by participants for a minimum of 3 valid days (≥10 h wear time/day). Children were grouped for analysis based on those meeting Canadian PA guidelines (≥12,000 steps ≥6 days/week) and those not meeting the guidelines. All comparisons were performed using ANCOVAs to control for age, sex and seasonality differences in PA. RESULTS: After controlling for age, sex and seasonality, children meeting PA guidelines had significantly higher physical competence (F = 67.92, p<0.0001) and motivation and confidence (F = 21.01, p<0.0001) domain scores compared to children not meeting the guidelines. No differences were observed in children meeting PA guidelines compared to children not meeting the guidelines for the knowledge and understanding domain (F = 78.21, p = 0.53). CONCLUSION: These results reinforce the importance of Canadian children meeting PA guidelines, as there seem to be favourable associations with physical competence measures and motivation and confidence scores.