Like adults, kids need exercise. Most children need at least an hour of physical activity every day. Regular exercise has many benefits for children. It can help them

• Feel less stressed
• Feel better about themselves
• Feel more ready to learn in school
• Keep a healthy weight
• Build and keep healthy bones, muscles and joints
• Sleep better at night

As kids spend more time watching TV, they spend less time running and playing. Parents should limit TV, video game and computer time. Parents can set a good example by being active themselves. Exercising together can be fun for everyone. Competitive sports can help kids stay fit. Walking or biking to school, dancing, bowling and yoga are some other ways for kids to get exercise.

Health Benefits for Children

Academic Performance
– Improves attention and memory

Brain Health
– Reduces risk of depression

Muscular Fitness
– Builds strong muscles and endurance

Heart and Lung Health
– Improves blood pressure and aerobic fitness

Cardiometabolic Health
– Helps maintain normal blood sugar levels

Long-term Health
– Reduces risk of several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and obesity

Bone Strength
– Strengthens bones

Healthy Weight
– Helps regulate body weight and reduce body fat

The amount of physical activity children need depends on their age. Children ages 3 through 5 years need to be active throughout the day. Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 need to be active for 60 minutes every day.

This may sound like a lot, but don’t worry! Children may already be meeting the recommended physical activity levels. You can also see ways to encourage children to participate in activities that are age-appropriate, enjoyable, and offer variety.

Recommendations for Children Ages 3 Through 5 Years

• Be physically active throughout the day for growth and development.
• Adult caregivers should encourage children to be active when they play.

Recommendations for Children and Adolescents Ages 6 Through 17 Years

• 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day.
  • Aerobic activity: Most of the daily 60 minutes should include activities like walking, running, or anything that makes their hearts beat faster. At least 3 days a week should include vigorous-intensity activities.
  • Muscle-strengthening: Includes activities like climbing or doing push-ups, at least 3 days per week.
  • Bone-strengthening: Includes activities such as jumping or running, at least 3 days per week.

Also, school-based physical activity can help children meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

How do I know if my child's aerobic activity is moderate- or vigorous-intensity?

On a scale of 0 to 10, where sitting is a 0 and the highest level of activity is a 10, moderate-intensity activity is a 5 or 6. When children do moderate-intensity activity, their heart beats faster, and they breathe much harder than when they are at rest or sitting. Vigorous-intensity activity is a level 7 or 8. When children do vigorous-intensity activity, their heart beats much faster than normal, and they breathe much harder than normal.

Another example is when children walk to school with friends each morning, they’re probably doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity. But when children run, or chase others while playing tag during recess, they’re probably doing vigorous-intensity activity.

What do you mean by age appropriate activities?

Some physical activity is better-suited for children than adolescents. For example, younger children usually strengthen their muscles when they do gymnastics, play on a jungle gym, or climb trees. Children do not usually need formal muscle-strengthening programs, such as lifting weights. As children grow older and become adolescents, they may start structured weight lifting programs. They may do these types of programs along with their sports team practices.

Children and adolescents need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Include activities that make their hearts beat faster, build muscles (like climbing or doing push-ups), and strengthen bones (like running or jumping). A guide to activities that school-aged children and adolescents can do to meet the recommended activity levels is below. Encourage children to do any activity they enjoy, as long as the activities are safe and appropriate for your child’s age and skill level.

Many of these activities fall under 2 or 3 different categories. Children can do moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity on all days of the week. Children can do muscle- and bone-strengthening activity at least 3 days each week. Also, some activities, such as bicycling or basketball, can be done either at moderate or vigorous intensity, depending on your child’s level of effort.

The talk test is a simple way to measure relative intensity. In general, if children are doing moderate-intensity physical activity, they can talk but not sing during the activity. If children are doing vigorous-intensity physical activity, they will not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

Do you want to be more active? We have great fitness tips for you. And being active may not be as hard as you think. You definitely don't need a gym membership or fancy equipment. Here are some key points to help you build a strong, healthy body:

• You should aim for at least 60 minutes of activity every day. You can be active for an hour all at once. Or, you can do a few shorter activities, such as walking to school and playing ball later. (And at least 60 minutes is the right amount from the time you're 6 years old until you turn 18.)
• You need a mix of different kinds of activities. Learn about the main types of activity, how they help, and great ways to do them.
• Most of your 60 minutes should be spent on aerobic activity. Aerobic activity is anything that gets your heart pumping, such as dancing, running, or swimming laps.
• How hard you exercise matters, too. You can learn how to measure your workout to see if it is light, medium, or intense.
• Focus on fun. Pick activities you enjoy so you'll be more likely to keep doing them. Also, avoid boredom through variety. We've got ideas for ways to shake up your routine.
• Start slowly if you haven't been active in a while. Start with what you can do. Over time, add more days to your activity routine or more time each day. You'll get there!
• If you have a disability, you should still aim for 60 minutes of activity each day. Talk with your doctor about what exercises are right for you.

What can I do to get – and keep – my child active?

As a parent, you can help shape your child’s attitudes and behaviors regarding physical activity. Knowing the recommendations is a great place to start. Encourage your child to be physically active for 60 minutes or more each day, with activities ranging from informal, active play to organized sports. Here are some ways you can do this:

• Start early. Young children love to play and be active. Encouraging lots of safe and unstructured movement and play can help build a strong foundation for an active lifestyle.
• Set a positive example by leading an active lifestyle yourself.
• Make physical activity part of your family’s daily routine by taking family walks or playing active games together.
• Give your children equipment that encourages physical activity.
• Take young people to places where they can be active, such as public parks, community baseball fields, or basketball courts.
• Be positive about the physical activities in which your child participates and encourage them to be interested in new activities.
• Make physical activity fun. Fun activities can be anything your child enjoys, either structured or non-structured. Activities can range from team or individual sports to recreational activities such as walking, running, skating, bicycling, swimming, playground activities, or free-time play.
• Instead of watching television after dinner, encourage your child to find fun activities to do on their own or with friends and family, such as walking, playing chase, or riding bikes.
• Be safe! Always provide protective equipment such as helmets, wrist pads, or knee pads for activities such as riding bicycles, or scooters, skateboarding, roller skating, rock-wall climbing, and other activities where there may be a high risk of injuries. Ensure also that activities are appropriate for the age of your child.

How is it possible for my school-aged child or adolescent to meet the recommended levels of physical activity?

Many physical activities fall under more than one type of activity. This makes it possible for your child to do two or even three types of physical activity in one day! For example, if your daughter is on a basketball team and practices with her teammates every day, she is not only doing vigorous-intensity aerobic activity but also a bone-strengthening activity. Or, if your daughter takes gymnastics lessons, she is not only doing vigorous-intensity aerobic activity but also muscle- and bone-strengthening activities! It’s easy to fit each type of activity into your child’s schedule – all it takes is being familiar with the Guidelines and finding activities that your child enjoys.

School-based physical activity programs can also help children meet the recommended levels of daily physical activity.

What if my child has a disability?

Physical activity is important for all children. It’s best to talk with a doctor before your child begins a physical activity routine. Try to get advice from a professional with experience in physical activity and disability. They can tell you more about the amounts and types of physical activity that are appropriate for your child’s abilities.

You might think that the goal for children to be moderately physically active for 60 minutes seems like a lot of time. Life does get busy, but it doesn't have to stop you from moving as much as you should to stay healthy.

Make moving more a family project. Encourage everyone to think of fun things to do to get up and moving, get off the sofas, and away from the screens—especially by doing things as a family.

There are many ways to enjoy physical activity together as a family:

• Bike to the library together
• Walk or bike to your children's sports events to cheer for them
• Have your children come to your sports events and cheer for you
• Celebrate special occasions—birthdays, anniversaries—with something active, such as a hike, a volleyball game, a dance contest, or a Frisbee™ match
• Train together for a charity walk or run

Keep a Family Activity Log
Encourage everyone in the family to take part. Make sure you keep up the good work by posting a physical activity log on the refrigerator.

Everyday Ideas to Move More
Encourage every member of your family to move more each day. Think of ways to have fun and be active at the same time.

Help your family move more each day and have fun with it. Think about what your family can do to be active together. Here are some ideas.

Make Time

• Identify free times. Keep track of your daily activities for one week. Pick two 30-minute time slots you could use for family activity time.
• Add physical activity to your daily routine. For example, walk or ride your bike to work or a friend's house, walk the dog with your children, exercise while you watch TV, or park farther away from your destination.
• Try to walk, jog, or swim during your lunch hour, or take fitness breaks instead of coffee breaks. Try doing something active after dinner with your family, or on weekends.
• Check out activities requiring little time. Try walking, jogging, or stair climbing.

Bring Others Into It

• Ask friends and family to support your efforts.
• Invite them to be active with you.
  • Set up a party or other social event with activities that get people moving, like dancing or having a jump rope contest.
  • Exercise with friends.
  • Play with your kids or ask them to join you for an exercise video or fitness game.
• Develop new friendships with physically active people. Join a group, such as the YMCA or a hiking club.

Energize Yourself

• Plan to be active at times in the day or week when you feel you have a lot of energy.
• Convince yourself that if you give it a chance, physical activity will increase your energy level; then try it.

Stay Motivated

• Plan ahead. Make physical activity a regular part of your family's schedule. Write it on a family activity calendar.
• Join an exercise group or class. Sign your children up for community sports teams or lessons.
• Pick activities requiring no new skills, such as walking or climbing stairs.
• Exercise with friends who are at the same skill level as you are. Create opportunities for your children to be active with friends.

Build New Skills

• Find a friend who can teach you new skills.
• Take a class to develop new skills and enroll your children in classes too, such as swimming, dancing, or tennis.

Use Available Resources

• Select activities that don't need costly sports gear, such as walking, jogging, jumping rope, or doing push-ups.
• Identify cheap, local resources in your area, such as programs through your community center, park or recreation group, or worksite.

Make the Most of All Conditions

• Develop a set of activities for you and your family that are always available regardless of weather, such as indoor cycling, indoor swimming, stair climbing, rope skipping, mall walking, dancing, and active games that you can play indoors.
• When the weather is nice, try outdoor swimming, jogging, walking, or tennis.

Being active can be great for you and great fun — but not if you get hurt. Stay smart, safe, and strong with our info. On this page, you can find some general physical activity safety tips and learn about warming up and cooling down.

Physical activity safety tips

Take these basic steps to stay safe:

• Be active regularly. Being active regularly builds fitness, and fit folks have a lower chance of getting hurt.
• Build up slowly. Pick activities you can do now, and then slowly challenge yourself. You might add to how often you're active or to how long you're active each time. For example, maybe add five minutes to your workout every week or two.
• Value variety. Try to do a mix of activities, so you don't put too much strain on the same parts of your body all the time.
• Be careful on hot or humid days. If possible, move your exercise indoors. That's also a good idea on days with a lot of air pollution. If you're going to be outside, rest in the shade, take breaks, and drink lots of water.
• Drink plenty of fluids. You need to drink before, during, and after activity. Read more about what to drink when working out.
• Find safe places. Try to stay away from traffic and dark areas, for example. And avoid places with a lot of holes or other things that could make you fall.
• Follow the rules of the game. Remember that many of the rules were made just to keep you safe. Learn more about safety in sports.
• Always use the right safety equipment. Make sure that your any safety gear fits right and is in good shape.

Warming up and cooling down

Warming up is a good idea. Becoming active too fast can put too much stress on your body. To get going safely, you can just do your activity at a slower pace for 10 minutes.

After you warm up, try stretching your muscles. You also can stretch at the end of your workout. Stretching combined with warming up and strengthening exercises may help prevent injuries.

What about a cool-down after being active? Cooling down may not be essential for everyone. Still, stopping suddenly may be risky for some people, and cooling down is pretty simple. If your heart rate and breathing got faster during your workout, your cool-down should slowly get them back to normal. You can do the same activity you were doing, but do it more slowly. For example, if you've been walking fast for 45 minutes, you can walk slowly instead for around 10 minutes.

How does physical activity help my child?

Experts suggest that preschool-age children (ages 3 through 5 years) should be physically active throughout the day to help them grow and develop. As a parent or caregiver, you play a big role in helping kids get up and get moving.

If you are caring for preschoolers, try to make sure they get about 3 hours of physical activities each day. Those activities could be light, moderate, or vigorous in intensity. If you are caring for school-age children (ages 6 through 17 years), try to get them to do at least 1 hour of physical activity each day. Experts suggest activities that are moderately or vigorously intense. Bicycling, jumping rope, and playing basketball or soccer are some ways for children to be active.

How can I help my child be more active?

There are many ways you can help.

• As you work to develop a physical activity routine, you can be a role model for your children. If they see you being physically active and having fun, they might grow to like it and stick with it.
• Involve the whole family in activities like dancing or playing a favorite sport.
• Focus on fun. You can do a lot of walking during trips to the zoo or park.
• Include children in family activities like walking the dog, washing the car, or cleaning the house.
• Sign up your children for after-school programs or lessons in an activity or sport they enjoy, if they’re available and you can afford it.
• Team up with your children to play sports or dance video games that get everyone moving.
• Share tips with your children about how to be physically active throughout the day.
• Consider using an interactive online tool to find ways to help your children get more physical activity.

Reduce inactive screen time. Sitting for hours at a time, while using computers, hand-held devices, music players, or TVs, may reduce your child's active playtime.

Pediatricians suggest limiting the time children use digital media outside of homework time. Between ages 2 and 5, allow your children no more than 1 hour of screen time. For children ages 6 and older, set consistent limits on media time. That will help you be sure they have enough time for physical activity, play, sleep, and other healthy behaviors.

Try these tips to reduce your child's screen time

• Do not use screen time to reward your child.
• Set up a family game night and turn off all the screens in your home.
• Eat meals together with no media use. Do not eat in front of a screen.
• Limit time in front of TV or other devices and remove them from your child's bedroom.
• Designate media-free places in your home, such as bedrooms.

What should I do if my child is overweight or has obesity?

Children who are overweight are more likely to become adults who are overweight. These children may develop high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and other serious health problems. Weight problems may also lead to stress, sadness, and low self-esteem in children. Because children grow at different rates at different times, it is not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. For example, it is normal for boys to have a growth spurt in weight and catch up in height later.

Ask your health care professional to measure your children and tell you if they are in a healthy range for their age and gender. You can also calculate your child's body mass index (BMI), then discuss any concerns with your child's health care professional. BMI is a measure of body fat calculated from weight and height. If your provider tells you that your child weighs more than he or she should, there are ways you can help your child who is struggling with his or her weight.

How can I help my child with his or her weight?

Here are some do’s and don’ts.

• Accept and love your child at any weight. Doing so will boost self-esteem.
• Involve the whole family in following healthy habits, even if other family members are not overweight.
• Focus on healthy eating, regular physical activity, and adequate sleep, rather than a number on the scale.
• Help your child find ways other than food or beverages to handle setbacks or mark successes.
• Talk with your health care professional to get trusted advice about addressing your child’s health habits and weight. The internet is full of misinformation that may be hard to distinguish from good advice.

Remember, you play the biggest role in your children's lives. You can help your children learn healthy eating, physical activity, and other habits to follow for the rest of their lives.