Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines (PDF, 3MB) - Eat For Health

Appendix 4. Physical activity guidelinesAustralia’s physical activity guidelines outline the minimum levels of physical activity required togain a health benefit and identify ways to incorporate physical activity into everyday life. Below areexcerpts from physical activity guidelines developed and published by Australia’s CommonwealthDepartment of Health and Ageing:http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-actguidelines.A4.1 Physical activity recommendations for children 0–5 yearsThe Physical Activity Recommendations for Children 0–5 year state that being physicallyactive every day is important for the healthy growth and development of infants, toddlersand preschoolers [850].For infants (birth to 1 year) physical activity—particularly supervised floor-based play in safeenvironments should be encouraged from birth.Before infants begin to crawl, encourage them to be physically active by reaching andgrasping, pulling and pushing, moving their head, body and limbs during dailyroutines and supervised floor play, including tummy time. Once infants are mobile,encourage them to be as active as possible in a safe, supervised and nurturing playenvironment.Toddlers (1 to 3 years) and preschoolers (3 to 5 years) should be physically active every dayfor at least three hours, spread throughout the day.Young children don’t need to do their three hours of physical activity all at once. Itcan be accumulated throughout the day and can include light activity like standing up,moving around and playing as well as more vigorous activity like running andjumping. Active play is the best way for young children to be physically active.Children younger than 2 years of age should not spend any time watching television orusing other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games). For children 2to 5 years of age, these activities should be limited to less than one hour per day.Television, DVDs and playing computer games usually involve sitting for longperiods—time which could be spent playing active games or interacting with others.DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 169