Our latest research has found that only 1 in 10 children are getting enough energetic play while in childcare – the huff and puff activity they need for their optimal health and development.
Research led by The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia analysed data collected from over 1900 children across 150 Australian childcare centres, measuring their physical activity levels and comparing them to the national 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years.
“We found that although pre-schoolers spend 60% of their day moving whilst at childcare, they only get between 15 and 29 minutes of energetic play on a typical day at childcare ,” Chief Investigator Professor Hayley Christian AM said.
“Energetic play is the type of play that gets children huffing and puffing like running, jumping, skipping, and dancing. It is done in short bursts throughout the day.”
“This kind of play is especially important during the early years of life for a child’s health, wellbeing and development,” she said.
The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years recommend that children aged 3 to 5 should have at least 180 minutes of physical activity, of which at least 60 minutes is energetic play, spread throughout the day. Two year olds need at least 180 minutes of physical activity each day, including energetic play, spread throughout the day. More is better!
“Our findings highlight the need for childcare centres to provide more energetic play opportunities throughout the day for children in their care as well as supporting educators through training and resources.”
The research also established benchmarks for physical activity levels of young children attending childcare, allowing educators to track how a child’s physical activity changes over time.
“This can also help educators identify children who may need additional support to be more physically active and developing well.”
“It will also enable childcare providers to assess the effectiveness of their physical activity policies and programs,” she said.
A paper on the study, Population-referenced percentiles for total movement and energetic play at early childhood education and care, led by Professor Stewart Trost and Professor Hayley Christian has been published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport and can be read here.
This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) partnership project grant (#APP1152086) and partially through the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (#CE200100025).
