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Keeping Our Children Moving and Healthy: Nicholas Pimlott at TEDxStouffville

1,272 views · Published 18 July 2013 · 20:12 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2013 · Nonprofits & Activism

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This generation of youth may be the first in more than a century to have shorter life expectancy than their parents. We are born active, but by the time most of us finish high school we are indoctrinated into a sedentary way of life, one that leads to overweight and obesity and the attendant chronic health problems of heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. Physicians and other primary health care providers are expected to counsel people to lose weight and become physically active and fit, but they are neither educated nor equipped to do so and by then it may be too late. In his talk Nick Pimlott argues that to create and maintain active communities we must take back our schools and communities with grass roots initiatives that make being physically active a lifelong habit.

BIO: Nick Pimlott has lived two parallel lives during his career. The first is as a family physician at Women's College Hospital where he has his own practice, teaches family medicine and has been a clinical researcher with a special interest in care of the elderly since 1994. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and since 2009 he has been the Scientific Editor of Canadian Family Physician.

In his second life, Nick has been a volunteer youth soccer coach in his own community for sixteen years and has coached both boys and girls and recreational and elite youth players from age 5 to 16. He holds community coaching licences and a Provincial B licence from the Ontario Soccer Association. He is also a recreational long distance runner, cyclist and for the past few years a competitive age group duathlete at sprint and Olympic distances. Nick brings his personal, volunteer and professional experiences to the subject of nurturing more physically active communities. 

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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