Total Play Time Needed for Preschoolers to Reach Recommended Amount of Non-Sedentary Activity

Abstract

Health guidelines suggest that caregivers provide preschoolers with opportunities to be physically active for 3 h per day (roughly 15 min per waking hour), but because children are not continuously active, it is unclear what amount of time is needed to reach this goal. This naturalistic study enrolled 67 children (M = 4.5 years, 46% female) who wore accelerometers to measure their activity during indoor and outdoor free -play (N = 315,061 s). An hour of indoor play was insufficient for most children to reach 15 min of physical activity. When outside, most children reached 15 min of physical activity after slightly more than 30 min. Children engaged in outdoor activity sporadically (1.7 starts/stops per minute). Most physical activity occurred in bouts shorter than 20 s. Indoor free-play does not, on its own, provide sufficient opportunity for preschoolers to engage in physical activity consistent with health guidelines. As a result, outdoor play for at least 30 min at a time has a key role in meeting these guidelines.

Keywords: early childhood; physical activity guidelines; preschool.

Figure 1

Percentage of children completing 15 min of physical activity during outdoor free-play versus indoor activities by elapsed time.

Figure 2

Mean cumulative minutes of physical activity in outdoor play versus indoor by 15 Min intervals. Note: *** p < 0.001.

Figure 3

Cumulative minutes of physical activity during indoor activities for a 4-year-old male participant.

Figure 4

Cumulative minutes of physical activity during outdoor play versus indoor activities for a 5-year-old female participant.