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WDG in motion Backgrounder

What is in motion?

In motion is a successful health promotion strategy, resulting in a sustained increase in physical activity rates in Saskatoon.  In 2006, communities across Wellington County, Dufferin County and the City of Guelph came together to address the alarming rates of physical inactivity in our region.  A partnership was formed, called Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) in motion.  WDG in motion is a regional collaborative that has operated for 3 years and launched publicly on October 3, 2007, in conjunction with the World Record Walk. 

Our vision is that Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph will be a physically active, healthy community. WDG in motion is leading the way to a physically active, healthy WDG by:
  • Building Long-term and meaningful partnerships
  • Encouraging the development of healthy communities that support physical activity
  • Supporting local opportunities for residents to be physically active
  • Removing barriers to physical activity 
     
Our guiding principles
    •    We understand that increasing physical activity is a complex issue
    •    We work within our capacities & resources
    •    We leverage existing efforts & look for opportunities to partner
    •    We strive to model our vision within our own organizations
    •    We learn together & engage in knowledge transfer
    •    We manage our growth
    •    We measure progress & celebrate success.


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Why Do We Need to be in motion? 

It is a staggering statistic that 88% of Canadian children are not active enough!  Like the rest of Canada, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) has an inactive population.  31% of Dufferin County residents and 40% of Guelph/ Wellington residents report being inactive.1  In addition, 54% of males and 44% of females are overweight or obese, in WDG.   

The health risks associated with being overweight increases directly as weight increases.  Obese people are 3 times more likely than people with healthy weights to have high blood fat levels, type 2 diabetes, gall bladder disease and breathing problems.  They are also more likely to develop cancer, and have higher death rates from cancer.

Our inactivity is a result of many factors including the time spent in vehicles, on the computer, watching television and playing video games.  Compared with the provincial data, a higher proportion of WDG residents spend two or more hours of their leisure time every day watching television or videos, using computers to surf the web or play games.  If the time spent traveling in cars and buses were included, the proportion would be even higher.

Due to the increase in chronic diseases and the role that physical activity can play in improving health, initiatives addressing physical activity are urgently needed.  

Partnerships:

There are over 100 organizations, groups and individuals working together at the local level to address physical inactivity in our region, through the in motion collaborative.  These include:  City of Guelph, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Ministry of Health Promotion & Sport, Town of Orangeville, Township of Centre Wellington, University of Guelph, Upper Grand Family Health Team, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, YMCA-YWCA of Guelph, Mount Forest Family Health Team, Town of Mono, the Upper Grand District School Board, the Wellington Catholic District School Board, Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, Alma Optimist Club, Headwaters Communities in Action, Guelph Community Health Centre, The Cooperators, St. Joseph’s Health Care Centre, Health and Performance Centre, Town of Erin, Township of Guelph/Eramosa, Township of Wellington North, Township of Mapleton and much more!
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Successes to Date:

  • Development of Communities in motion teams (CIM’s) in Wellington North, Centre Wellington, Guelph and Minto-Mapleton.  CIM’s include a combination of local residents, businesses and organizations that have a commitment to physical activity and are working to provide opportunities and reduce barriers.
  • Launched October 3, 2007 in conjunction with the World Record Walk with 63 sites across Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG).  21, 608 WDG residents walked for 1 km simultaneously.  WDG is home to 0.002% of Ontario’s population, yet hosted 14% of Ontario’s walkers in the World Record Walk.  Canada was successful in breaking the World Record.
  • Completed a baseline survey for adults, as well as children and youth.
  • In October 2010 we launched the inMotion Certified! program in elementary schools and child care centres. inMotion Certified! is a fun, free 8 level program that recognizes and rewards school and child care programs for everything they do to be physically active. For more information check out the youth section for a brochure and level application form.
  • Launching Freiker (pronounced fry-ker) at James McQueen Public School, Fergus and St. Mary Catholic School, Elora. Freiker uses advanced technology to substantially increase the number of children regularly biking or walking to school. Freike awards prizes to children for riding their bikes or walking to school. 
  • Initiated our first annual push-up/sit-up challenge, with the winning school in 2008, Mono Amaranth Public School, averaging 256 push-ups per student for the five-day challenge!
  • Distribution of 2,000 walking sticks in the Town of Mono and the Township of Wellington North.
  • Expanding the Summer Solstice Run in Mono to include a walk to appeal to families and non-runners.
  • Launching the Try It! Program in Minto that allows children and youth to “try” new sports without team uniforms, travel and competition.  Several hundred children have been participated in this program.
  • The Township of Wellington North has hosted family walks, bird watching and other trail walks for residents.
  • Marketing of in motion message and logo in arenas, flowerbeds, flyers, newsletters, on banners, posters, etc.  Within the first 8 months of launching, 11% of Guelph residents were familiar with in motion.
  • Launch of Guelph in motion workplace committee with 15 organizations.  An annual Couch Potato Race involving the public sector, private and not-for-profit, publicly launched the workplace committee in June 2008.
  • Over 250 media ads between February 2007 and July 2009, written on in motion, partners and events.

 


And so much more!