Canadians aren’t as fit as they should be. In fact, only about 12 out of 100 kids get as much exercise as they should.
So the Canadian government is going to lower the amount of time they say people need to exercise. They’re hoping that with an easier goal, people will try harder to meet it.
The government says that:
* adults should exercise for 22 minutes a day;
* children should exercise for 60 minutes a day; and
* people over 65 years old should have moderate exercise for 22 minutes a day.
The health of Canadians would improve a lot if everyone got this much exercise, say experts.
Note: This is an ESL version of this article. Another version is available here.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
At school, students have gym class a few times a week. Sometimes students go home after school and sit and watch TV and play video games. This means that many kids aren’t exercising enough.
Who should make sure kids exercise enough? Should the school be in charge? Should parents and guardians check that their kids are exercising every day? Or should students be responsible for their own health?
Reading Prompt
Do you think the new rules will help people to exercise more? If not, what can the government do to get people to be healthier?
Primary
identify the point of view presented in a text and suggest some possible alternative perspectives (OME, Reading: 1.9)
Junior
identify the point of view presented in texts; determine whether they can agree with the view, in whole or in part; and suggest some other possible perspectives (e.g., ask questions to identify any biases that are stated or implied in the view presented) (OME, Reading: 1.9)
Grammar Feature: Bullet Points
The author wrote the new exercise guidelines using bullet points. Bullet points are dots that go at the beginning of each item in a list. Why do you think the author used bullet points? Do they help you understand the article?
