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. 2018 Oct 2;18(Suppl 2):1034.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5903-x.

Canada's Physical Literacy Consensus Statement: process and outcome

Mark S Tremblay  1 , Christa Costas-Bradstreet  2   3 , Joel D Barnes  4 , Brett Bartlett  3 , Diana Dampier  3 , Chantal Lalonde  5 , Reg Leidl  6 , Patricia Longmuir  4 , Melanie McKee  7 , Rhonda Patton  8 , Richard Way  9 , Jennifer Yessis  8
Affiliations

Canada's Physical Literacy Consensus Statement: process and outcome

Mark S Tremblay et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Healthy movement behaviours of Canadian children and youth have been found to be suboptimal; this is associated with declines in physical fitness, increases in obesity, and elevated chronic disease risk. Physical literacy is an evolving construct representing foundational domains upon which physically active lifestyles are based. Many sectors and organizations in Canada are embracing physical literacy in their programs, practices, policies, and research; however, the use of inconsistent definitions and conceptualizations of physical literacy had been identified by stakeholders as hindering promotion and advancement efforts.

Methods: With leadership from ParticipACTION, organizations from the physical activity, public health, sport, physical education, and recreation sectors collaborated to create a physical literacy consensus definition and position statement for use by all Canadian organizations and individuals. The process involved an environmental scan, survey of related evidence, stakeholder consultations, and creation of a Steering Committee. From this background work a consensus statement was drafted, shared with stakeholders, revised, and ratified.

Results: Canada's Physical Literacy Consensus Statement was launched in June 2015 at the International Physical Literacy Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. To further promote the Consensus Statement, the Sport for Life Society developed and simultaneously released the "Vancouver Declaration", which contained additional guidance on physical literacy. Both the Consensus Statement and the Declaration endorsed the International Physical Literacy Association's definition of physical literacy, namely "the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life".

Conclusions: Sector partners hope that the Consensus Statement, with its standardized definition, brings greater harmony, synergy, and consistency to physical literacy efforts in Canada and internationally. Going forward, the impact of this initiative on the sector, and the more distal goal of increasing habitual physical activity levels, should be assessed.

Keywords: Confidence; Consensus; Definition; Health; Motivation; Physical activity; Physical competence; Physical literacy; Sedentary behaviour.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethics approval for the Stakeholder Survey was obtained from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Ethics Board. All participants provided passive consent to participate as indicated in the Stakeholder Survey (see Additional file 2). Approval for secondary data analysis of the ParticipACTION Learn to Play Physical Literacy consultation and survey data was obtained from the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Waterloo.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

Mark Tremblay and Patricia Longmuir are the lead developers of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy. Richard Way is the CEO of Sport for Life, and (with Dr. Dean Kriellaars of the University of Manitoba) launched the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (PLAY). Joel Barnes is the web developer for the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Major events in the development of Canada’s Physical Literacy Consensus Statement
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Canada’s Physical Literacy Consensus Statement
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Déclaration de consensus canadien sur la littératie physique (French version of Canada’s Physical Literacy Consensus Statement)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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