children playing

Kids in daycare are more sedentary than you'd think. These educators aim to get preschoolers moving

Printer-friendly versionSend by emailPDF version
3- and 4-year-olds sedentary for 43 minutes per hour at child care, researchers find
Author: 
Wong, Jessica
Format: 
Article
Publication Date: 
25 Jan 2025
AVAILABILITY

Excerpt

...

'Heart-pumping' movement 

Kids play and learn at daycare, but much of the activity can take place while relatively stationary — sitting during storytime, for instance, or while digging in a sand pit, or standing to play with a toy kitchen.  

In a recent analysis, a team at Western University's Child Health and Physical Activity Lab found that preschool children "spent around 43 minutes per hour whilst at child care sedentary," said Sophie Phillips, a postdoctoral researcher involved with the project.  

That correlates with research from Statistics Canada's regular Canadian Health Measures Survey about the daily physical activity of this young cohort, added Trish Tucker, director of the CHPA Lab and associate director of research at Western's school of occupational therapy. 

"We've seen for a number of years that kids engage in fairly high levels of screen time and sedentary time over the course of the day," she said.

The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years suggest preschoolers get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily: think movement that's energetic and heart-pumping — anything from running and jumping, to dancing and skipping, Phillips explained

...

Region: