Active living goes beyond a traditional focus on individual lifestyle choices and emphasizes the physical and social environments that facilitate or hinder people s ability and motivation to be active. These environments are shaped in the communities where people live, learn, work and play. Active living comes to life in community settings of all kinds. Active living is accessible and visible. You do not need sophisticated facilities and large budgets to support people s efforts to walk, garden or commute by bicycle.
Active living is holistic.
Because it encompasses the physical, mental, social and spiritual dimensions of physical activity, it has applications in health promotion, recreation, leisure, sport, education, social services and personal development. Active living supports other policies and services such as the Canadian Active Living Challenge, Quality Daily Physical Education, Heart Health, Gender Equity Schools Initiative, Healthy Communities, Community Recreation. The major components of physical fitness are muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance. Opportunities for students to develop each of these components are interwoven throughout the program. Some lessons are devoted primarily to helping children understand and apply the important fitness concepts.