National Physical Activity and Screen Time Guidelines For Children

11 May National Physical Activity and Screen Time Guidelines For Children

As a parent it is natural that you want to ensure you give your child the best start in life possible. Ensuring your child gets enough exercise and not too much screen time is difficult in todays technology dependent world.  

The National Physical Activity Guidelines are a set of guidelines released by the government and based on extensive research outline how much exercise and how much screen time children should be exposed to.  

Below is an outline of the guidelines for children up to 17 years old. If you want a more detailed outline check out the Department of Health website. 

Infants 

• Physical Activity 

• Supervised interactive floor-based activity.  
• 30minutes of tummy time with play for those not yet mobile 

• Screen Time 

• Avoid restraining infants for more then 1 hour at a time. 

• Avoid anytime on electronic media. 

Toddlers (1-2 years) 

• Physical Activity 

• 180 minutes of a variety of physical activity including running and jumping. 

• Screen Time 

• Avoid restraining toddlers for more then 1 hour at a time. 
• No more then 1 hour of screen time, less is better! 

Pre-Schoolers (3-5 years) 

• Physical Activity 

• 180 minutes of variety of physical activity 

• 60 minutes of that time should include energetic play! 
• More is better! 

• Screen Time 

• No more then 1 hour of screen time. 

Children and adolescents (5-17 years) 

• Physical Activity 

• 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity 
• Several hours of a variety of light physical activity 

• Screen Time 

• Less then 2 hours of screen time a day outside of educational purposes 

• Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible