Nemours believes that health care providers have a great opportunity to educate parents on physical activity guidelines for their children.
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans offers these physical activity guidelines for children:
Minimum Daily Activity: No specific requirements.
Physical activity should encourage motor development.
Minimum Daily Activity: 1½ hours
30 minutes planned physical activity and 60 minutes unstructured physical activity (free play).
Minimum Daily Activity: 2 hours
60 minutes planned physical activity and 60 minutes unstructured physical activity (free play).
Minimum Daily Activity: 1 hour or more
Physical activity should be mostly moderate to vigorous and should include muscle and bone strengthening activity.
Physical Activity Tools & Training
Educate parents on how to prevent childhood obesity as well as provide physical activity recommendations for children.
Tools from Nemours Health & Prevention Services (NHPS)
- Early Childhood Primary Care Toolkit (Birth - 5 year olds)
- Middle Childhood Primary Care Toolkit (6 - 11 year olds)
- Late Childhood Primary Care Toolkit (12 - 18 year olds)
- 5-2-1-Almost None Primary Care Toolkit
Training Resources
From Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at University of North Carolina
- Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cardiovascular Health
- Obesity Prevention in Children
- Physical Activity
From the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Handouts & Resources
If you need more resources to help educate your parents and patients, go to our resources section for health professionals.
View All Resources for Health Professionals »
