Sit less (sedentary behaviour)
What is a sedentary behaviour?
Sedentary behaviour is the time when a person is doing very little physical movement. Examples of sedentary behaviour include:
- sitting for long periods
- watching television
- sitting or reclining in a stroller or car seat
- playing video games
- inactive transportation (e.g. sitting in a car)
- using the computer
For healthy growth and development, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology recommends that the time children and youth spend being sedentary, during waking hours, needs to be minimized, especially when it comes to screen time.
Why are sedentary behaviours important?
Spending more time being active and less time being sedentary helps children and youth improve their fitness, get better sleep, improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels, perform better in school, learn new skills, and improve their self-esteem.
My kids get a lot of physical activity. Do sedentary behaviours still matter?
Even if children and youth are meeting the guidelines for physical activity, spending too much time being sedentary can have a negative effect on health. Encourage them to break up the time they spend sitting by standing and moving during television commercials, walking or playing with friends during lunch or recess breaks, or walking or biking to school.
How much sedentary time is recommended?
Children 0 to 4 years of age should not be restrained for more than 1 hour at a time (e.g., in a stroller or high chair). When doing very little physical movement, activities such as reading and storytelling with a caregiver are encouraged.
Screen time is not recommended for infants and toddlers under 2 years of age. For children 2 to 4 years of age, no more than 1 hour per day of screen time is healthiest, and less screen time is better.
Children and youth 5 to 17 years should limit their sitting for extended periods of time, trade indoor time for outdoor time and replace sedentary behaviours and light physical activity with more moderate to vigorous activity for greater health benefits. Children and youth should aim to limit their recreational screen time to no more than 2 hours per day.
Learn more about screen time.
This item was last modified on February 12, 2018