October 1, 2024

Only 1 in 7 children meet global health guidelines, researchers discover

New study led by Dr Kar Hau Chong finds most 3-4 year olds are falling behind on physical activity, sleep, and sedentary screen time

Exercise, sleep well, don’t spend too much time on screens. It sounds easy, right? Particularly for energetic young children. But new research from the University of Wollongong (UOW) has discovered only 14 per cent of children aged three to four years old meet the global recommendations for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep.

Dr Kar Hau (John) Chong, an Associate Research Fellow in the School of Health and Society at UOW, was the lead author of a research paper published yesterday (Monday 30 September) in JAMA Pediatrics, which examines how many children are meeting the health guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The evidence-based global Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep for Children Under 5 Years of Age recommend that children aged three to four years old should, in a 24-hour period, undertake at least 180 minutes of physical activity, of which 60 minutes should be moderate to vigorous intensity, have less than an hour of sedentary screen time, and receive 10 to 13 hours of good quality sleep.

In the pooled analysis led by Dr Chong, the team of 50 authors, including Distinguished Professor Anthony Okely from UOW’s Early Start Research, examined 7017 children, aged 3 to 4, across 33 countries, with the aim of providing a comprehensive snapshot of their health and activity levels around the world.

While the researchers noted differences between sexes, regions, and country income levels, the universal finding was that most children were not getting enough movement and were spending too much time on screens.

Dr Chong said the research was concerning as early childhood was the best time to establish the foundation of healthy habits.

“Staying active, getting enough sleep, and resting when necessary are incredibly important for a child’s overall development, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.”

“These behaviours impact how a child grows and thrives.

“We know that early childhood, under the age of five, is a critical window to establish lifelong habits. Yet most children do not receive enough physical activity and spend too much time on screens. This really shines a light on a big public health concern that could affect everyone’s health and wellbeing in the future if we don’t take the steps to address the issue.”

Dr Chong said the data revealed inequalities in the children’s movement behaviours around the world, with slightly more children in low- and lower-middle-income countries, at 16.6 per cent, meeting the WHO guidelines than in high-income countries, at 14.4 per cent.

The region of Africa saw the highest percentage of children meeting the guidelines, at 23.9 per cent, while the Americas saw the lowest, at just 7.7 per cent.

The findings must be used to inform policy that boosts the movement behaviours of children, Dr Chong said, but change does not exist in a vacuum.

“We need to understand the factors that influence these behaviours in children from different sociocultural settings before we begin to implement contextually appropriate programs and policies to encourage more movement, less sedentary, and have adequate sleep,” he said.

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