Children should have at least three hours of daily physical activity from age 1, WHO advises

Young children should engage in at least 180 minutes of physical activity a day from the age of 1 to improve their health, the World Health Organization has recommended.

New global guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep for children under 5 also recommend no sedentary screen time for children under the age of 2 and a limit of one hour a day for children aged 2-4.1

This is the first time that WHO has issued guidelines on physical activity for children under 5 and the first time it has specified the length of time that very young children should sit passively watching screen based entertainment such as TVs, computers, and mobile devices.

Children aged 1-2 should spend at least 180 minutes a day in a variety of types of physical activities at any intensity, spread throughout the day, it recommends. …