Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control

Cancer

Physical Activity of Canadians
Cycle 2, 1996/97 (November 1999, No. 2)

National Population Health Survey Highlights
Physical Activity of Canadians
(1,389 KB) in PDF Format Only

The National Population Health Survey (NPHS) Highlights on the Physical Activity of Canadians are based on Cycle 2 results (1996/97) and include separate reports on each of the following:

These Highlights provide descriptive information from the NPHS and follow an earlier series on the Smoking Behaviour of Canadians, released in January 1999. Other core issues covered by the NPHS, such as alcohol, injuries, stress, medications, depression, preventive health practices, sexual health, social support, health status, and access to services, may be the focus of future highlight reports. The federal and provincial governments can also develop issue supplements for the NPHS (e.g. nutrition; asthma 1994/95; health services and road safety 1996/97), which identify additional areas for possible highlight reports.

Background

The NPHS is a household-based survey conducted every two years by Statistics Canada. It collects cross-sectional and longitudinal information about health status and health determinants, including health behaviour, use of health services, and sociodemographic information.

The NPHS originally surveyed a sample of 20,725 households. A minimum of 1,200 households was needed in each province to ensure reliable estimates by sex and age groups. In 1994/95 and 1996/97, some provinces chose to increase the number surveyed in their province. Thus, the data from each cycle consist of a combination of cross-sectional (one-time only) and longitudinal (follow-up) participants.

Data collection for Cycle 2 began in June 1996 and was completed in August 1997. Extended information for longitudinal analysis was gathered from a selected panel of 13,093 individuals together with limited information on each household member living with the individual at the time of the survey. The NPHS will collect information every two years from the panel selected in 1994/95, for up to two decades.

These Highlights are based on the cross-sectional files, except where comparisons are made between the 1994/95 and 1996/97 data.

Target Population

The target population of the NPHS is household residents of all ages in all provinces and territories, except persons living on Indian reserves, on Canadian Forces bases, or in some remote areas of Ontario and Quebec. Separate surveys are conducted for the territories, for operational reasons. A separate institutional survey component covers long-term residents of hospitals and residential care facilities.

For these reports on physical activity in Canada, the target population was provincial residents aged 12 and over. The final sample size for Cycle 2 was 69,524 (13,093 original panel participants; 56,431 provincial buy-ins from Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta). The sample represents 24.6 million Canadians in private households in 1996/97.

Methods

To assess physical activity, the NPHS uses the self-report method, which is the most popular and practical method for large populations. It has shown good reliability and fair validity. A modified version of the widely used Minnesota Leisure-Time Physical Activity questionnaire was the instrument chosen.

A similar, modified questionnaire, but with a 12-month rather than a three-month recall period and a longer list of activities, is used in the Physical Activity Monitor surveys conducted by the Canadian Fitness and Life-style Research Institute, the other major source of data on the leisure-time physical activity of Canadians. Estimates from the NPHS are systematically lower than those from the Physical Activity Monitor, although the patterns by age, sex, and income, and region are very similar. Although each method produces reliable estimates, the differences preclude direct comparisons of results from the two surveys.

Microdata

Separate public use microdata files containing the cross-sectional results for both cycles (1994/95 and 1996/97) of the NPHS are available for purchase from Statistics Canada or the provincial ministries. The data can also be accessed through university data archives.

All analyses for the NPHS Highlights are based on cases included in the master "share" file provided by Statistics Canada to Health Canada. This file includes only respondents who agreed to share their results with Health Canada; few refused. Nevertheless, the sample size for the 1996/97 Health Canada share file was slightly smaller than what is available through Statistic Canada's public use file and may result in small differences in estimates.