Physical activity is vital for children’s health, wellbeing and development, now and in the future.
Physical activity has lots of health benefits for children. It:
- strengthens children’s bones, muscles, hearts and lungs
- improves children’s coordination, balance, posture and flexibility
- helps children stay at a healthy weight
- reduces children’s risk of getting heart disease, cancer and type-2 diabetes later in life.
Physical activity also boosts children’s wellbeing. For example, active children are more likely to:
- be confident and feel like they belong
- be relaxed and sleep well
- concentrate better at school
- get along with others and make friends easily
- share, take turns and cooperate.
Physical activity is an important part of play and learning. And when children do physical activity with you or other people, it can be a great way for them to build relationships in your family and community.
Physical activity is also just good fun for children.
What is physical activity?
Physical activity is any activity that involves moving your body. It includes everyday activities, physically active play, and organised sports and exercise.
Light physical activity could be going for a stroll, playing a musical instrument or standing up to paint at an easel.
Moderate physical activity gets children gently huffing and puffing. It could be:
- walking quickly
- riding to child care, school or a friend’s house
- dancing, skipping, jumping in puddles or flying kites
- swimming.
Vigorous physical activity gets children huffing and puffing a lot, as well as sweating. It could be:
- playing running games like ‘keepings off’ or ‘chasey’
- riding a bike fast
- playing organised sports like soccer, basketball, touch football or netball.
Activities that strengthen muscles and bones make muscles work more than normal and put extra force on bones – for example, jumping, running, climbing and lifting. Moderate and vigorous physical activities often help to build muscles and bones.
Energetic play is a natural way for children to move and be active. For example, babies rock and kick their feet. Older children run, jump, twirl, kick, throw, dance to music, play on playground equipment, enjoy rough-and-tumble play, and much more.
How much physical activity do children need each day?
Australian guidelines say that children aged under 1 year should have lots of floor play. For babies who aren’t up and about, 30 minutes of tummy time each day is good.
Children aged 1 year up to 3 years should be physically active for at least three hours each day. This includes energetic play.
Children aged 3 years up to 5 years should be physically active for at least three hours each day. This includes one hour of energetic play.
Children aged 5 years up to 18 years should do at least one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity plus several hours of light physical activity each day. And at least three days a week, this should include activities that strengthen muscles and bones.
Young people aged over 18 years should do 2½-5 hours of moderate physical activity or 1¼-2½ hours of vigorous physical activity per week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous physical activity that adds up to enough activity overall. And at least two days a week, they should do activities that strengthen muscles.
Your child can do physical activity in small blocks of time throughout the day. The key thing is that your child does enough physical activity overall. And the more physical activity your child does and the less time your child spends sitting, the better it is for your child.
Physical activity and children with additional needs
Physical activity is important for all children.
If your child has additional needs, like a disability or medical condition, or you have any concerns about the amount and type of physical activity your child gets, it’s a good idea to talk to your GP or another health professional.
Being physically active every day is important
for the healthy growth and development of infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. These recommendations are for all infants aged 0-5 years who have not yet started school, irrespective of cultural background, gender or ability.
- For health development in infants (birth to one year) physical activity in particularly supervised floor-based play in safe environments should be encouraged from birth.
- Toddlers (1 to 3 years) and pre-schoolers (3 to 5 years) should be physically active every day for at least three hours, spread throughout the day.
- Children younger than 2 years of age should not spend any time watching television or using other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games).
- For children 2 to 5 years of age, sitting and watching television and the use of other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games) should be limited to less than one hour per day.
- Infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers (all children from birth to 5 years) should not be sedentary, restrained, or kept inactive for more than one hour at a time, with the exception of sleeping.
Staying active regularly is essential for good physical and mental health and wellbeing. This is true no matter how young or old you are. But the amount of activity varies, depending on your age.
To help Australians understand how much activity they need, we have developed physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for each age group and for pregnancy.
These guidelines outline:
- how much physical activity you should do each day
- ideas to fit more physical activity into your daily lives
- the importance of reducing and breaking up the time you spend sitting or lying down when not sleeping
- how much sedentary screen time is recommended
- how much sleep children and young people should get
- how children and young people can get good quality sleep.
Physical activity guidelines by age
Find the guidelines that apply to you.
-
For infants, toddler and preschoolers (birth to 5 years)
Read about how much activity small children should do each day, limiting sitting and screen time, and making sure they get enough sleep. - For children and young people (5 to 17 years)
Read about how much activity children and young people should do each day, limiting sitting and screen time, and getting enough sleep. - For adults (18 to 64 years)
Read about how much activity adults should do each day and limiting sitting time. -
For pregnancy
Read about how much activity should be done each day and limiting sitting time during pregnancy for the health and wellbeing of both mum and bub. - For older Australians (65 years and over)
Read about how much activity older Australians should do each day, and how to build activity into daily life. - For people with disability and chronic conditions
While there are no formal guidelines for people with disability and chronic conditions, being active is important for everyone. Find out what you can do to include activity in your day according to your ability.
Order the guidelines
You can order the following printed resources by emailing health [at] nationalmailing.com.au or calling 02 6269 1080. Provide:
- the order ID number
- how many copies you need
- your delivery address.
|
Title |
Order ID number |
|
Make your move – sit less, be active for life – adults (18 to 64 years) |
NA0109 |
|
Make your move – sit less, be active for life – family guide |
NA0110 |
|
24-hour movement guidelines – birth to 5 years – brochure |
NA0116 |
|
24-hour movement guidelines – children and young people (5 to 17 years) – brochure |
NA0117 |
|
Physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines – pregnancy – poster |
NA0118 |
|
Physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines – pregnancy – brochure |
NA0119 |
Summary by age
Children and young people
|
Recommendations |
Under 12 months |
1 to 2 years |
3 to 5 years |
5 to 17 years |
|
Physical activity |
Interactive floor-based play, and at least 30 minutes of tummy time for babies per day. |
At least 3 hours of energetic play per day. |
At least 3 hours per day, with 1 hour being energetic play. |
At least 1 hour of moderate to vigorous activity involving mainly aerobic activities per day. Vigorous activities should be incorporated at least 3 days per week. Several hours of light activities per day. |
|
Strength |
At least 3 days a week. |
|||
|
Sedentary time |
Do not restrain for more than 1 hour at a time. |
Do not restrain for more than 1 hour at a time. |
Do not restrain for more than 1 hour at a time. |
Minimise and break up long periods of sitting. |
|
Sedentary recreational screen time |
None. |
Under 2 years: None. 2 years: No more than 1 hour per day. |
No more than 1 hour per day. |
No more than 2 hours per day. |
|
Sleep |
0 to 3 months: 4 to 11 months: This includes naps. |
11 to 14 hours, including naps. |
10 to 13 hours. Some will still need naps. |
5 to 13 years: 14 to 17 years: |
Adults
| Recommendations |
18 to 64 years |
Pregnancy |
65 years and over |
| Physical activity |
Be active on most (preferably all) days, to weekly total of: 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous activity or an equivalent combination of both. |
Be active on most (preferably all) days, to weekly total of: 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous activity or an equivalent combination of both. Do pelvic floor exercises. |
At least 30 minutes of moderate activity on most (preferably all) days. |
| Strength |
At least 2 days a week. |
At least 2 days a week. |
Do a range of activities that incorporate fitness, strength, balance and flexibility. |
| Sedentary time |
Minimise and break up long periods of sitting. |
Minimise and break up long periods of sitting. |
How we developed the guidelines
We developed Australia’s physical activity guidelines based on:
- a rigorous review of scientific evidence from around the world
- extensive consultation with stakeholders, state and territory governments, and national and international experts.
We looked at how health is directly affected by:
- the physical activity people do – including the amount, frequency, intensity and type of activity
- the amount of time people spend sitting or lying down
- the amount and quality of sleep children and young people get.
We have summarised the scientific evidence that support each of the guidelines.