The World Health Organization (WHO, 2019) issued guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep for children under five years old. A summary of the information in a 24-hour day follows.
| Activity | Infants less than 1 year old | Children/toddlers 1 to 2 years of age | Children 3 to 4 years of age |
| Physical activity | – At least 30 minutes on tummy with unrestricted movement
– Interactive floor based play |
– At least 180 minutes throughout the day including moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity | – At least 180 minutes throughout the day.
– At least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. |
| Restrained movement: Unable to move freely | Not more than one hour at a time | – Not more than one hour at a time.
– No sitting for extended periods of time. |
– Not more than one hour at a time.
– No sitting for more than one hour at a time. |
| Screen time: Passively watching screen-based entertainment | Not recommended | – 1 to 2 years: Not recommended
– 2 to 3 years: No more than one hour |
No more than one hour |
| Good quality sleep
(both night and daytime naps) |
– 0 to 3 months: 14-17 hours
– 4 to 11 months: 12-16 hours |
11-14 hours | 10-13 hours |
Reference:
World Health Organization. (2019). WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. Geneva: Author. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/311664/9789241550536-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Future Global Children 