Only 1 in 10 children meet global health guidelines, researchers find

New research has found that only 14% of children aged three to four get enough physical activity, sleep and time away from screens.

The analysis, led by the University of Wollongong (UOW) and supported by Dr Simone Tomaz from the University of Stirling, looked at 7,017 children aged three to four in 33 countries, aiming to provide insight complete information about their health and activity. levels across the world.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) evidence-based global guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in children under 5 years of age recommend that children aged three to four years undertake , in a 24-hour period, at least 180 minutes of physical activity, of which 60 minutes must be of moderate to vigorous intensity, include less than an hour of sedentary screen time, and get 10 to 13 hours of sleep good quality.

Although researchers noted differences between genders, regions and country income levels, the universal result was that most children were not moving enough and spending too much time in front of screens.

Dr Kar Hau (John) Chong, a research associate at UOW’s School of Health and Society, is lead author of the research, published in JAMA Pediatricsand said the findings were concerning because early childhood was the best time to lay the foundation for healthy habits.

He said: “Staying active, getting enough sleep and resting when necessary are extremely important to a child’s overall development, physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. These behaviors impact how a child grows and thrives.

“We know that early childhood, before the age of five, is a crucial time for establishing lifelong habits. Yet most children do not get enough physical activity and spend too much time in front of “This really highlights a major public health problem that could affect everyone’s health and well-being in the future if we don’t take the necessary steps to address this problem.”

The data revealed inequalities in children’s movement behaviors across the world, with slightly more children in low- and lower-middle-income countries, at 16.6%, meeting WHO guidelines than in high-income countries, at 14.4%.

The Africa region recorded the highest percentage of children meeting the guidelines, at 23.9%, while the Americas recorded the lowest percentage, at just 7.7%.

Dr Simone Tomaz, senior lecturer in exercise physiology at the University of Stirling, was a postdoctoral researcher on the project at the University of Cape Town.

She said: “It goes without saying that children under the age of five, whether growing up in Scotland or South Africa, thrive when they are in an environment that encourages healthy sleep behavior and their offers the opportunity to be physically active. There is still much work to be done, but continued efforts to understand sleep, physical activity, and screen time in young children around the world put us all in a better position to optimize these behaviors related to health.

Dr Chong said the findings should be used to inform policies that boost children’s movement behaviors, but change does not exist in a vacuum.

He said: “We need to understand the factors that influence these behaviors in children from different socio-cultural contexts before we begin to implement contextually appropriate programs and policies to encourage more movement, less sedentary behavior and sufficient sleep.

“It is essential to take a holistic approach in which parents, educators, policymakers and communities must work collaboratively to create environments that help children meet the guidelines. The health of future generations depends on solving these global problems.”

The paper, titled “Pool analysis of physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in children from 33 countries,” was written by more than 40 authors from universities around the world.

Dr Tomaz continues to work towards understanding the physical activity and health of children and young people in Scotland and earlier this year published the research paper ‘A systematic evaluation of physical activity and diet policies in Scotland: results from the 2021 Active Healthy Kids Report Card”. “She was also involved in collecting and analyzing data for research which found that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the physical activity deficit among children in Scotland and globally.

The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) report compared 57 countries across six continents to assess global levels and trends in physical activity among children and adolescents. The University of Strathclyde is leading the study in Scotland, working alongside the Universities of Stirling and Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University and the MRC/CSO Social Sciences and Public Health Unit of the University of Glasgow.