Exercise and teenagers – too little or too much?

More than 80% of the world’s adolescents are not active enough (WHO 2021). Physical inactivity is the largest worldwide threat to health both in disease development and early death.

National guidelines (NHS) and The World Health Organisation state that children and teenagers should aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per day. A guide is that during the exercise you probably would feel warm, heart rate would raise and you could talk but not be able to sing!  A variety of types of activity are advised to help develop movement skills as well as muscle and bone strength.  It also recommends that long periods of time sitting or lying down should be avoided!

For children and teenagers with a disability the aim is 20 minutes of exercise per day which can be split into smaller chunks if needed and strength and balance work 3 times a week. Of course, this needs to be tailored to each young person, and you may need to be creative in activity choice!