Are Young Children Meeting Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines?
Are Young Children Meeting Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines?
This study explores the physical activity, sleep, and screen time habits of young children.
What We Did and Why We Did It
Researchers looked at the physical activity, sleep, and screen time habits of 320 children (18 months to under 6 years old) in the Guelph Family Health Study. They measured physical activity using activity trackers (accelerometers), collected information about screen time and sleep from parents, and compared different ways of measuring sleep to see how this affected whether children met the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines.
Healthy movement behaviours (including being active, getting enough sleep, and limiting screen time) are important for children’s growth and long-term health. Researchers wanted to understand how many children were meeting these recommendations and whether different ways of measuring sleep changed the results.
What we found
What we can learn from this
Most children met the physical activity guidelines, but fewer met the screen time recommendations. The biggest difference was in sleep. Depending on how sleep was measured, the number of children meeting the sleep guidelines varied widely. This shows that the way researchers measure sleep can have a major impact on study results.
Many young children are getting enough physical activity, but reducing screen time and improving how we measure sleep remain important. More accurate and consistent ways to measure children’s sleep will help researchers better understand healthy movement behaviours and develop stronger recommendations for families.
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