How much physical activity should children and young people aged 5 to 18 do to keep healthy?
Children and young people need to do 2 types of physical activity each week:
- aerobic exercise
- exercises to strengthen their muscles and bones
- aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a day across the week
- take part in a variety of types and intensities of physical activity across the week to develop movement skills, muscles, and bones
- reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity. Aim to spread activity throughout the day. All activities should make you breathe faster and feel warmer
What counts as moderate activity?
Moderate intensity activities will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.
One way to tell if you’re working at a moderate intensity level is if you can still talk, but not sing.
Examples of moderate-intensity activities:
- walking to school
- playground activities
- riding a scooter
- skateboarding
- rollerblading
- walking the dog
- cycling on level ground or ground with few hills
What activities strengthen muscles and bones?
Examples for children include:
- walking
- running
- games such as tug of war
- skipping with a rope
- swinging on playground equipment bars
- gymnastics
- climbing
- sit-ups, press-ups and other similar exercises
- basketball
- dance
- football
- rugby
- tennis
Examples for young people include:
- gymnastics
- rock climbing
- football
- basketball
- tennis
- dance
- resistance exercises with exercise bands, weight machines or handheld weights
- aerobics
- running
- netball
- hockey
- badminton
- skipping with a rope
- martial arts
- sit-ups, press-ups and other similar exercises
Key Messages for Physical Activity
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Regular physical activity promotes growth and development and has multiple benefits for physical, mental, and psychosocial health that undoubtedly contribute to learning.
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Specifically, physical activity reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity, and metabolic syndrome; improves various other aspects of health and fitness, including aerobic capacity, muscle and bone strength, flexibility, insulin sensitivity, and lipid profiles; and reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.
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Physical activity can improve mental health by decreasing and preventing conditions such as anxiety and depression, as well as improving mood and other aspects of well-being.
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Physical activity programming specifically designed to do so can improve psychosocial outcomes such as self-concept, social behaviors, goal orientation, and most notably self-efficacy. These attributes in turn are important determinants of current and future participation in physical activity.
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Sedentary behaviors such as sitting and television viewing contribute to health risks both because of and independently of their impact on physical activity.
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Health-related behaviors and disease risk factors track from childhood to adulthood, indicating that early and ongoing opportunities for physical activity are needed for maximum health benefit.
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To be effective, physical activity programming must align with the predictable developmental changes in children’s exercise capacity and motor skills, which affect the activities in which they can successfully engage.
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Frequent bouts of physical activity throughout the day yield short-term benefits for mental and cognitive health while also providing opportunities to practice skills and building confidence that promotes ongoing engagement in physical activity.
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Distinct types of physical activity address unique health concerns and contribute in distinct ways to children’s health, suggesting that a varied regimen including aerobic and resistance exercise, structured and unstructured opportunities, and both longer sessions and shorter bouts will likely confer the greatest benefit.