It should be with some pride the local community looks at the recent announcement that a University of Regina study has rated the City of Yorkton’s Official Community Plan as the most ‘Active –Living Friendly’ in the province.
One might question why the study was warranted, but once it was undertaken it is good to see our City’s Community Plan factors in making sure development includes consideration of citizens being active.
Certainly as individuals we are not doing a great job of being as active as we should be for good health.
According to Saskatchewan in motion, fewer than 15 per cent of Saskatchewan children and youth get the 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity they need.
Nationally, the 2016 ParticipACTION report card found that fewer than 10 per cent of children and youth meet these physical activity guidelines.
Only 15 per cent of adults in Canada are getting the recommended 150 minutes weekly physical activity needed, according to Statistics Canada.
Those are not encouraging statistics, although perhaps not surprising in a world of hundreds of channels tempting us to give into the soft comfort of our chesterfields rather than heading outside to be active.
If some sport event, new release movie, or popular TV series doesn’t get us, there is always the Internet, video games, surround sound music and few dozen other excuses we can fall back on rather than doing something active.
In the study “Yorkton came out on top at 82 per cent in terms of physical activity indicators in the Official Community Plan, followed by Prince Albert at 71 per cent,” detailed a release sent out by the City of Yorkton. “Regina was at 65 per cent and Saskatoon at 52 per cent.”
So in comparison to other Saskatchewan communities we are doing pretty well.
But that is in part because our City has done a rather commendable job in terms of offering a broad range of recreational facilities people can access to stay active.
The growing pathways system is a good example as it allows for the opportunity to walk and bike around our city easily.
And, if it’s raining, or in the cold of winter, walkers have the option of going indoors at the Nexera Flexihall, or Gloria Hayden Centre.
There is playground equipment at a number of parks in the city for younger children, including wheelchair accessible play structure at Weinmaster Park.
The above recreation assets offer free use to residents, as does the skateboard park, disc golf course, outdoor basketball courts and a range of other facilities.
So the only barrier to being active for anyone is the desire and initiative to get out and do something. With summer now just around the corner it is an ideal opportunity to get active, and push the numbers identified in the U of R report even higher.
