Sport and physical activity alone cannot address health inequalities among indigenous communities

Organized sport is usually presented as a cure-all for lots of the health problems facing indigenous peoples. While there are a lot of advantages to participating in sports, exaggerating these advantages can obscure the systemic issues that folks face as they fight to create their very own vision of health.

One sec research shows that encouraging young people to have interaction in sports and physical activity is important to improving health outcomes, the link between sports participation and the health of indigenous communities will not be that easy.

For example, a recent literature review conducted by the National Collaborative Center for Indigenous Health highlights a big policy issue: Indigenous youth are more physically lively than non-Indigenous youth, yet they self-report poorer health outcomes.

This illustrates why using sports participation as a template for policymaking to influence positive health outcomes is troublesome. Sport has historically did not address the systemic issues that burden Indigenous people and their communities. To address these deep-seated problems, a more comprehensive and culturally rooted approach to sports policy is required.

National sports policy

A national sports policy is essential since it serves as a guide to how and why the federal government will spend money on sports. Canada’s first sports policy, An act encouraging sports and amateur sportsdating back to 1961. It mainly involved cost-sharing agreements with provinces and territories to encourage people to have interaction in sports for physical fitness and competition.

The federal government then began to focus increasingly on competitive sports. Since the Nineteen Seventies, billions of dollars have been invested in athletes to win gold, silver and bronze medals, as if their accolades would encourage residents to be more physically lively.

The general direction of those policies is expressed within the phrase “from the playground to the rostrum” — an apt summary of the scope and ambition of most of them.

Now, a brand new national sports policy is on the horizon, and with it a renewed discussion concerning the relationship between health and sport in Canada. The a consultation report that forms the idea of the brand new policy refers to sports as “an integral part of health and culture in Canada” and quotes describe it as a type of health care.

Sports and health

The link between sports participation and federal policymaking is long-standing and rooted in the standard wisdom that: encouraging youth to take part in sports reliably leads to higher health outcomes.

For example, the primary goal Canada’s 2002 sports policy aimed to significantly increase the variety of Canadians participating in sportsclaiming that practicing sports “contributes to a healthier, longer and more productive life.”

The Canadian sports policy 2012 continued to emphasise the positive health advantages of sport, claiming that it “enhances personal development, provides enjoyment and relaxation, reduces stress, improves physical and mental health, fitness and overall well-being, and enables a more productive and fulfilling life.” ”

It cannot be denied that the 2012 policy meant broadly understood health. Considering these were big claims in 2012, only 34 per cent of Canadians participated in some type of organized sport. By 2023 this number increased to almost 50%.largely as a consequence of post-Covid-19 return to play initiatives – a trend that could be reversed as a consequence of rising costs of living.

For the indigenous people, yes no official study monitoring Indigenous participation in sports in Canada. This implies that assumptions that sport is a think about Indigenous health may not apply to many segments of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations. This also implies that sports policy may exacerbate existing health inequalities quite than treatment them.

Social determinants of health in indigenous peoples

While sport is a vital and valued aspect of Canadian life, the relative impact it may have on the general health of a community is tempered by many external aspects, because the federal government’s public health resources illustrate.

Approach to sport from A social determinants of the health perspective of indigenous peoples would make clear why and how this happens. The Canadian government currently uses 12 social determinants of health and health inequalities manage your policy.

The social determinants of Indigenous health transcend current government approaches and include an assessment of other negative aspects, akin to settler colonialism, in addition to positive aspects, akin to Indigenous culture and spirituality.

Similarly, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action No. 89 calls on decision-makers to adopt a broader perspective of sport that takes health under consideration. In the US:

“We call on the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies that promote physical activity as a fundamental component of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sport participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport and build the capacity of Canada’s sport system , include Aboriginal people.”

Threats to sports evangelization

Without critically considering how we view the role of sport in Canadian life, any latest policy risks the hazards of sport evangelism: the false belief that sport alone can miraculously solve social and structural problems.

The long list of social determinants of indigenous health is a stark reminder of the necessity to know sport inside this complex matrix.

In each mainstream and Indigenous communities across Canada, sports are neither inherently good nor bad. Rather, it’s a tool that needs to be used responsibly. This requires us to acknowledge each its potential and limitations to complement the lives of its participants, especially those we all know struggle with health inequities, as is the case with indigenous peoples.