The Healthy Living

How much exercise do Children and Young People Need?

The government recommends that children and young people get one hour of physical activity a day.

This activity should be of at least moderate intensity – in other words, you should work up a bit of a sweat and get slightly out of breath. But if you can manage something a bit more strenuous, then that's even better.

At least twice a week you should include activities to improve bone health, muscle strength and flexibility. Activities that are 'weight bearing' (in other words, where you are on your feet, rather than in water or on a bike) help build strong bones.

By 2008, the government hopes to have 85 per cent of young people aged five to 16 spending at least two hours a week on high-quality PE and school sport, both during the school day and afterwards. It says by 2010 it aims to have all schoolchildren doing twice that much.

But a report by medical experts, published in medical magazine The Lancet last year, says even an hour's activity a day, which most young people don't achieve, isn't enough. If you want to avoid heart disease and obesity, you need to do 90 minutes exercise a day, experts say.

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