How much exercise per day for a child

Physical activity guidelines for children and young people

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

Children and young people aged 5 to 18 should:

• aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous 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

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.

Children and young people should do a range of different activities across the week.

Examples include:

• walking to school or walking the dog
• playground activities, including jumping, running and catching
• physical education
• sports, like football or tennis
• swimming
• skipping
• dancing
• skateboarding or rollerblading
• cycling

What activities strengthen muscles and bones?

Examples include:

• gymnastics
• football
• jumping
• martial arts
• resistance exercises with exercise bands, weight machines or handheld weights
• sit-ups, press-ups and other similar exercises

Physical activity recommendation for other age groups:

• Physical activity guidelines for children under 5 years
• Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64
• Physical activity guidelines for older adults (aged 65 and over)

GOV. UK has infographics on physical activity for children and young people

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Page last reviewed: 12 November 2021
Next review due: 12 November 2024

Kids and Exercise (for Parents)

When most adults think about exercise, they imagine working out in the gym, running on a treadmill, or lifting weights.

But for kids, exercise means playing and being physically active. Kids exercise when they have gym class at school, during recess, at dance class or soccer practice, while riding bikes, or when playing tag.

The Many Benefits of Exercise

Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. Active kids will have:

• stronger muscles and bones
• leaner bodies
• less risk of becoming overweight
• a lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes
• lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels
• a better outlook on life

Besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise, fit kids sleep better. Exercise improves school performance and makes kids less likely to develop depression. Kids who exercise regularly are also better able to handle physical and emotional challenges — from running to catch a bus to studying for a test.

The 3 Elements of Fitness

If you've ever watched kids on a playground, you've seen the 3 elements of fitness in action when they:

1. run away from the kid who's "it" (endurance)
2. cross the monkey bars (strength)
3. bend down to tie their shoes (flexibility)

Parents should encourage their kids to do a variety of activities so that they can work on all these.

Endurance develops when kids regularly get

aerobicactivity. During aerobic exercise, large muscles are moving, the heart beats faster, and a person breathes harder. Aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells.

Aerobic exercise can be fun for both adults and kids. Aerobic activities include:

• basketball
• bicycling
• ice skating
• inline skating
• soccer
• swimming
• tennis
• walking
• jogging
• running

Improving strength doesn't have to mean lifting weights. Instead, kids can do push-ups, stomach crunches, pull-ups, and other exercises to help tone and strengthen muscles. They also improve their strength when they climb, do a handstand, or wrestle. Muscle strengthening and aerobic exercises like running, jumping, and hopping, also help build strong bones.

Stretching exercises help improve flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to bend and move easily through their full range of motion. Kids get chances every day to stretch when they reach for a toy, practice a split, or do a cartwheel. Dance, yoga, and martial arts, like karate, are examples of flexibility activities.

The Sedentary Problem

Kids and teens sit around a lot more than they used to. They spend hours every day in front of screens (TVs, smartphones, computers, tablets, and gaming systems). Too much screen time and not enough physical activity can add up to unwanted weight gain.

One of the best ways to get kids to be more active is to limit the amount of time spent in sedentary activities, especially watching TV and using phones. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents:

• Put limits on the time spent using media, which includes TV, social media, and video games. Media should not take the place of getting enough sleep and being active.
• Limit screen time to 1 hour a day or less for children 2 to 5 years old.
• Discourage any screen time, except video-chatting, for kids younger than 18 months.
• Choose high-quality programming and watch it with your kids to help them understand what they're seeing.
• Keep TVs, computers, tablets, phones, and video games out of children's bedrooms.
• Turn off screens during mealtimes.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

Parents and caregivers can help ensure that kids are active every day. In its Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• for school-age kids and teens (6 through 17 years): 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. This should include muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities at least 3 days a week.
• for preschoolers: active playing throughout the day. A set amount of time hasn't been well defined, but a reasonable target could be 3 hours each day of light, moderate, and vigorous activities. These should include unstructured active free play and planned, adult-led physical activity.

Children under age 3 were not included in these guidelines, but exercise guidelines from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom recommend toddlers be active at least 3 hours throughout the day. This should include light activity, active play, and energetic movement, like hopping, running, and jumping.

Young children should not be inactive for long periods of time — no more than 1 hour unless they're sleeping. And school-age kids should not be inactive for periods longer than 2 hours.

Raising Fit Kids

To help keep kids fit and active:

• Help your kids do a variety of fun age-appropriate activities.
• Set a regular schedule for physical activity.
• Make being active a part of daily life, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Embrace a healthier lifestyle yourself, so you'll be a good role model for your family.
• Be active together as a family.
• Keep it fun, so your kids will come back for more.

Norm of physical activity for children and adults - European Gymnastics Center

Movement is our natural biological need. Nature is conceived in such a way that a person at any age cannot develop harmoniously and maintain good health without physical activity.

During a muscular load, all physiological processes are activated in a person, cognitive activity is stimulated, a good mood and cheerfulness appear due to the production of endorphins, as well as a sense of self-confidence. nine0003

Especially the movement is necessary for young children. It is well known that the intellectual, social and physical development of a child to a decisive extent depends on his physical activity in the first years of life.

There are norms of physical activity recommended by doctors, as well as by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Infants (0-12 months) should be active for several periods per day. The regimen should include developing gymnastics, massage, water procedures, swimming, active play with the participation of adults. These types of physical activity are the basis for the harmonious upbringing of the baby. nine0003

Children 1-2 years of age must move a total of at least 3 hours per day. It can be both planned classes, and just outdoor games, a walk (for example, 1 hour twice a day).

Already at the age of 1.5-2 years, a child can take walks on foot with a length of 100-200 meters, at this time it is better to abandon the stroller. Gradually, the distance can be increased to 300-400 meters. You can take a scooter or balance bike with you, the child will be happy to ride on them. On the playground, it is recommended to climb a lot on sports complexes, play ball or toys that can be rolled. Also, children are very fond of running in open space, for example, in a stadium. nine0003

Up to 3 years, it is recommended to ride a balance bike, bicycle, scooter for no more than 20 minutes in order to prevent unnecessary stress on the spine, since the back muscles are still weak. In order for the musculoskeletal system to form and strengthen properly, it is necessary to engage in developmental gymnastics.

The regularity of training for children from 1 to 3 years old should be 1-2 times a week. This is due to the fact that the child needs to get used to classes, remember exercises, develop discipline, but not be overloaded. nine0003

Children from 3 to 5 years of age must move at least 3 hours a day in total, of which 60 minutes of active sports per day (walks, games with friends, classes in sports sections). During this period, the regularity of classes in sections should be at least 2 times a week.

You can combine different sports. The main thing is that the child has at least one day off. It is important that it is not overloaded, otherwise the pleasure of playing sports will be lost. nine0003

Children from 5 years of age and adolescents must do sports daily for a total of at least 60 minutes (physical education, walks, sports sections). More is welcome. The bulk of your daily physical activity should be aerobics. And strength training is recommended at least 3 times a week.

With the improvement of physical fitness, a person develops endurance, so this load can be gradually increased.

But when choosing the intensity and regularity of sports activities, it is important to monitor the well-being of the child and not overload him. However, it is important to adhere to the specified minimum of physical activity.

Adults 18 to 50 years of age are recommended to do a total of at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity per day. The regularity of intensive training, taking into account work employment, should be at least 2 times a week for 50-60 minutes (aerobics, strength, coordination exercises, stretching). nine0003

Adults 50 to 65 years of age and older are recommended to do a total of 20 to 40 minutes of moderate physical activity per day. This includes walking, swimming, developing gymnastics, sports games and other sports that you like and fit your physical abilities.

Be sure to include aerobic exercise in the lesson - at least 10 minutes a day. Also, WHO recommends at this age to perform balance and coordination exercises at least 3 times a week to prevent injuries, and strength exercises - 2 times a week. nine0003

If older people, for health reasons, cannot perform the recommended amount of physical activity, then they should engage in activities that take into account their abilities and health status.

Physical activity in a child's life and its deficit - European Gymnastics Center

The topic of physical activity in the life of a child is very relevant at the present time. In this article, we will answer the most popular questions of parents, namely, we will talk about the benefits of playing sports for children, the norms of physical activity, at what age to start it and how to choose the right one, how the lack of physical activity affects the health of the child. We also made a selection of various sets of exercises for children from 1.5 years old and for children from 3 years old, which can be performed at home or on the street. nine0003

It’s worth starting with the fact that physical activity is inherent in human nature, this is our biological need, which is necessary for the development of the child, just like good nutrition and sleep. From the very birth of a child, the development of all physiological processes in the body is associated with movement. These include: sensory perception, knowledge of one's body, training in gross and fine motor skills, as well as the formation of immunity, positive work of the central nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Thanks to physical activity, the child actively learns the world around him, develops intellectually and psychologically. Speaking of intellectual development, we mean the development of logic and thinking, the acquisition of new information and experience in the process of performing various exercises. nine0003

In the middle of the 20th century, the famous American physiotherapist Glenn Doman even introduced the concept of motor intelligence. He dealt with the issue of early harmonious development of children and proved in practice the close relationship between mental and physical development. Glenn Doman talks about this in detail in his book Harmonious Development of the Child.

So, when should you start playing sports?

Doctors prescribe the first physical exercises for a child from 2 months old, this is exercise and massage. It mainly consists of stroking movements of the legs, arms, back, as well as exercises to strengthen the neck muscles, develop a grasping reflex. It helps to streamline the movements of a child who has not yet mastered his body. nine0003

As the child grows older and learns new skills, the activity of the child increases. By the age of 1, many children already begin to walk well, become energetic and inquisitive. Therefore, developing gymnastics from the age of 1 in the gym is an excellent opportunity for physical activity for kids. Moreover, they are very beneficial for their health and harmonious development. At our Center, classes begin at the age of 1.

But many parents ask why at this age to go to the gym, if all the same can be done on the playground. nine0060 In fact, the difference is enormous. Firstly, in the classroom, the coach selects a large number of various physical exercises for children. They are performed under the supervision of a trainer. The children also work with their parents. Secondly, at gymnastics there is a huge space for movement, various modules and apparatus are completely safe conditions for the development of a child's motor skills, even if he still does not walk well.

nine0059 Which sport is better to choose?

Gymnastics must be in the life of every person. Objectively, this is the most harmonious type of physical activity of all existing, since it simultaneously develops all human abilities: strength, endurance, speed, coordination, flexibility, and is also accessible to people of any age and ability. Gymnastics can be practiced at least 1 year old, at least 60 years and older.

Swimming in terms of age and ability is also a universal sport. But, it has a number of disadvantages: these are allergies, frequent colds, as well as the difficulty in preparing for training: changing clothes, drying, going outside steamed, especially in winter. nine0003

All other sports still do not develop a person as harmoniously as gymnastics. In addition, enrollment in any other sports starts at the earliest at 4 years old. And with regular gymnastics from 1-1.6 years old, a child by the age of 4 will already have an excellent base of physical skills. With gymnastic training, the child will be successful in absolutely any sport.

What kind of physical activity can replace classes in sports sections? nine0060